Rangers in the Cairngorms are searching for a herd of feral pigs believed to have been illegally released in the national park.
The animals were spotted near the Uath Lochans area, close to the village of Inch and only 5 miles from where four lynx were illegally released last month.
The sighting of the pigs has prompted further concerns about rogue activists intent on rewilding the Highlands by stealth.
Confirming that efforts were under way to trap the animals, which appeared to be fairly tame, the Cairngorms national park authority said it condemned any illegal release of animals “in the strongest possible terms”.
Four Eurasian lynx were humanely captured by experts from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) in early January after they were abandoned near Kingussie, where temperatures plunged as low at -14C, but one subsequently died.
The RZSS said the lynx would have been under great stress after being abandoned in the “extremely harsh” environment.
A park authority spokesperson said in a statement: “We are aware that feral pigs have been spotted in an area of the Cairngorms national park near Uath Lochans.
“The animals appear to be relatively domesticated and it is likely that this is an illegal release. The park authority condemns any illegal release of animals in the strongest possible terms.”
Wild boar were native to Scotland, but hunted to extinction about 700 years ago. Over the past 10 years, populations of free-roaming feral pigs numbering in the low thousands have become established in Dumfries and Galloway and the Highlands.
These include animals that have escaped from farms, as well as those illegally released into the wild, and hybrids of wild boar and domestic pigs. While not usually aggressive towards humans, a feral pig can weigh up to 100kg and may pose a risk to livestock, wildlife and farmland.
A local crofters’ cooperative responded angrily to the release, saying: “Within weeks of the illegal release of four lynx in woodlands near Kingussie, an estimated 20 feral pigs (wild boar) have now been dumped nearby. One has to wonder what on earth is going on – and who is behind these highly irresponsible releases.”
The spokesperson for the Cairngorms Crofters and Farmers Community added: “As has been evidenced elsewhere in Scotland, these creatures can cause serious problems for crofts and farms … Their rooting behaviour destroys pasture, hay fields, and crops such as barley and oats, with newly planted fields being especially vulnerable. They also damage fences, allowing sheep and cattle to escape, causing further losses for crofters and farmers.”
Scottish Land and Estates (SLE), which supports rural businesses, condemned the “reckless” release, and encouraged anyone with information to contact the police as it coordinated the trapping efforts.
Tom Cameron, Forestry and Land Scotland’s north region area wildlife manager, said his staff were working to locate the herd with the aim of using a corral trapping system.
He said: “This is for their own welfare and because we don’t know their origin or whether there is the potential for them to spread any disease across domesticated livestock in the area.”
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Cameron asked locals to stay away from the area in the meantime. He said: “As we work to confirm the exact location of the pigs, we are asking people to stay away from the area so the animals are not unduly stressed or startled.”
The three surviving lynx remain in quarantine in Edinburgh zoo. Last week, the first minister, John Swinney, ruled out the legal reintroduction of lynx at the NFU Scotland conference.
But conservationists working on a partnership project to set up an approved programme to restore lynx in the region said there was no reason why there could not be a “carefully managed” reintroduction.
