RZSSThree female lynx that were illegally released in the Cairngorms are looking for a new home after completing 30 days quarantine at Edinburgh Zoo.
The wild cats were spotted in the national park in early January, sparking a search before they were captured near Kingussie, south of Aviemore.
A fourth male lynx, died after being captured, and the three females are being cared for at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo.
The felines, all thought to be less than a year old, have been temporarily named A, B and C and RZSS said the challenge was now to find them a “forever home”.
Quarantine has allowed RZSS to carry out health checks and feed them.
Keepers say they have started to become more confident over the past month.
Chief executive David Field said: “Illegally releasing these cats into the wild was highly irresponsible and it is likely they would have died had they not been rescued.
“Our team of expert keepers and veterinarians have been delighted by how well they have settled in and have been observing closely how all three are becoming more confident and beginning to show their personalities.”
He added: “Now they have successfully completed their quarantine, the challenge is to find their forever home.
“They will continue to stay here whilst we consider our options.”
RZSSPolice were first alerted to reports of lynx on the loose in the Drumguish area of the UK’s biggest national park on Wednesday 8 January.
RZSS, which runs a wildlife park nearby, used cage-type traps baited with venison and quail, a small game bird, to capture the cats.
By Friday 10 January all four had been caught.
Lynx were once a native species in Scotland, but they died out several hundred years ago.
There are suspicions the Cairngorms lynx are abandoned pets, or were let go by people who want to see the animals reinstated to wooded hills and glens.
Conservation groups, such as Scotland’s Big Picture, that support a formal, legal release of lynx have condemned such behaviour, saying it sets back their campaign.
RZSSPolice Scotland continues to investigate the release of the cats.
A spokesperson told BBC Scotland News: “Inquiries are ongoing and any update will be issued proactively on our website, social media channels and as a press release.”
According to reports at the time there were some clues, including the discovery of straw bedding with porcupine quills in it.
The cats were “shocked” and “traumatised” when captured.
They were also cold, hungry and were found not to have developed a thick winter coat as they would if raised in the wild.
RZSSAnother twist in the tale?
On Monday, a group of wild boar-like feral pigs were seen near Uath Lochans, an area of woodland and small lochs near Kingussie, south of Aviemore – just a few miles from where the lynx were released.
The Cairngorms National Park Authority said at the time the pigs were “relatively domesticated” and appeared to have been illegally abandoned.
On Wednesday, public agency Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) said eight pigs had been caught and humanely killed.
Free-roaming feral pigs are found in other parts of Scotland and culling is permitted by the Scottish government.
The discovery of the Kingussie pigs prompted speculation it might be another suspected case of rogue rewilding – an attempt to reintroduce animals illegally,
Wild boar, like the lynx – and the local area’s legally reintroduced beavers – were once a native species but were hunted to extinction about 700 years ago.
