Some sanity prevails in Scotland

Support is growing for controversial plans to reintroduce several feared and deadly mammals to the Scottish Highlands.

Although bears were hunted to extinction in Britain 900 years ago, if proponents of a new 'rewilding' initiative get their way the carnivorous beasts could soon roam the countryside once again.

They would be joined by large numbers of lynx, wolves and elks - all ferried to the UK from Canada as part of an ideological campaign to resurrect the country's former ecological landscape.

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"Rewilding is an idea whose time has come," Keith Kirby, a forestry officer for Natural England, told The Times: "For a long time conservation has been fighting a rearguard battle, simply trying to save species threatened with extinction and reduce the damage caused by humans.

"Now we need to look at things more holistically - preserving and recreating entire landscapes and habitats."

RiverScrap

Maybe they'll carry off the weak, sick, old and unwary, too.

But even more: why not a whole environment? It's our only refuge against ecocide.