A Work of Hope - Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life - page 127

Name of
species

Approximate date of
extinction in Britain

Suitability for
reintroduction

Reintroduction efforts
so far

Bear Not clear. Oliver

Rackham and Derek
Yalden both suggest
around 2,000 years
ago. 11

3 None. Unlikely to be

considered seriously
unless public safety
issues and other conflicts
can be resolved.

Wolverine Derek Yalden suggests

8,000 years ago. 12

4 Not yet considered. But

well adapted for
northern and upland
regions of Britain.
Yalden suggests that,
unlike the horse and
reindeer, it died out as a
result of hunting, not
climate change. 13 Likely
to kill a lot of sheep. It
needs plenty of land.

Lion The last record of a

lion in the region is a
bone from an animal
that lived in the
Netherlands - then
still connected to
Britain - 10,700 years
ago. 14

1 The cave lion ( Panthera

leo spelaea ) was a larger
subspecies of the planet's
one remaining lion. The
clamour for the lion's
reintroduction to Britain
has, so far, been muted.

Spotted
hyena

It died out in Europe
around 11,000 years
ago. 15

1 Also likely to face

certain political
difficulties.