The forests of the north eastern Mazury lake district may soon see a revival of its population of lynx.

The animals are to be brought from Estonia to help recreate the population which became extinct over 20 years ago in this region of Poland.

The campaign has been launched by WWF Polska.

There are some 200 lynx living in Poland, with only 60 living in the north east.

The lynx has been a protected species in Poland since 1995: earlier it was a very attractive hunters’ trophy due to its unusual fur.

The campaign is beneficial for both countries since Estonia boasts of a large number of these forest predators, well above what is considered as a sustainable number.

Each year hunters in Estonia are granted a permit to hunt a certain number of the animals. The WWF campaign  aims at transporting the animals to Poland to settle in the woods of north east in conditions very similar to Estonian forests. (ab)