Highland Habitat Reborn

NZ-born wildlife expert Hugh Fullerton Smith is working at the forefront of British eco-tourism as general manager of Alladale Estate. The 23,000 acre Highland property, owned by Scottish millionaire philanthropist Paul Lister, is soon to become Britain’s first ecological game reserve. The Highland Council has just granted the estate a dangerous wild animal licence, meaning wild boar, elk, wolves, lynx and bears could soon be reintroduced in their natural habitat. “We already have wild boar and have fenced off 440 acres as part of a game reserve trial which scientists from Oxford University are monitoring,” said Fullerton Smith in The Observer. “Eventually we need to create probably the biggest enclosed wilderness reserve in Europe and then we will hopefully reintroduce some larger carnivores such wolves and bears.” Lister’s supporters believe his game reserve will eventually draw around 50,000 visitors a year.