Swinney condemns illegal release of lynx in Highlands after animals captured - The Scottish First Minister said he is ’emormously grateful’ to everyone involved in safely trapping the two cats.

Two lynx on the loose in the Highlands have been captured, with their release into the wild branded “reckless”. Officers received reports of two big cat sightings in the Drumguish area near Kingussie at around 4.20pm on Wednesday.

Two lynx, which had been released illegally into the Scottish Highlands, have been successfully recaptured. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), along with assistance from Police Scotland, managed to "humanely" trap the animals overnight amidst warnings that the creatures could have perished if they had stayed in the wild.

COPS investigating the “illegal release” of two lynx have warned the public to not approach the wild cats. It comes after reports the pair of apex predators were spotted in Drumguish,

Now they have been captured, the animals – which the RZSS has named the Killiehuntly Two – are being cared for in quarantine facilities at the Highland Wildlife Park in the Cairngorms before being transferred to Edinburgh Zoo, where their health and welfare will be assessed.

Two lynx that were illegally released in the Highlands have been captured by wildlife authorities. The big cats were spotted on Wednesday night and wildlife conservation charities worked alongside Police Scotland to safely trap the cats and take them back into captivity.

Police are investigating the release of two lynx in the Highlands and have urged the public not to approach the wild cats. The alarm was raised at about 16:20 when they were spotted in the Drumguish area,