This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter

Was it a chilling tale of the callous abandonment of neglected exotic pets, or a reckless release by guerilla rewilders out to bring the lynx back to Scotland? These wer some of the theories at the centre of this week's emotional rollercoaster of a real-life nature whodunnit. The answers to these questions matter when it comes to the question of the future of the lynx in Scotland.

Certainly, if this was an attempt at rewilding, it was an inept one. The four lynx appeared to have been abandoned in a lay-by in the Dell of Killiehuntly, an area of the Cairngorms on the edge of agricultural land where cattle and sheep are reared - an area, in other words of likely conflict with farming, and hardly an ideal target for reintroduction.

All four, said the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which played a role in capturing them and took them into their care, showed signs of starvation when found. Though three are now being looked after at Edinburgh Zoo, one died not long after its capture and is currently undergoing post-mortem.

Many across Scotland, and indeed the world, have been moved by the sad predicament of these animals. A Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) spokesperson said: "This unfortunate development serves to further demonstrate the folly of abandoning these amazing animals in the wild, with no preparation or real concern for their welfare. We can only imagine the stress that all four of the recovered lynx must have experienced after being thrust into an entirely new and extremely harsh environment to fend for themselves.”

We have been moved by their stress and their suffering, as well as the fear and alarm experienced by locals.

Whether it was a botched reintroduction matters a great deal for the future of lynx in Scotland. Though a careless abandonment could almost be turned into a positive for the cause - which has been building over recent years - a guerilla rewilding most certainly would not.

As a result of the release now more of us know that the native Eurasian lynx was made extinct in Scotland through hunting and habitat loss more than 500 years ago. We know that lynx are shy. More of us also know that one of the arguments for their reintroduction is that in Scotland,........

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