The past few years have seen the return of certain animal species that had once gone extinct within the UK. In 2022, Kent saw the reintroduction of the European Bison to West Blean and Thornden Woods – while just last week four Eurasian beavers were released in a Dorset nature reserve.
So it’s as good a time as any to ask (again) if Britons support the idea of bringing back animals that have disappeared from the UK. In total, nearly eight in ten endorse the idea (78%) – about the same as when we last asked in 2019 (82%).
We also asked about specific creatures that Britons would support seeing reintroduced.
Once again, the avians in our poll come top of the list: seven in ten Britons want to see long lost birds of prey (67%) and wading birds (66%) take to the nation’s skies and waters, and there’s a similar level of enthusiasm for bringing back beavers (66%).
That said, no other animal polled has majority support for reintroduction. Only some 42% would see wildcats returned to the UK, while a little over a third would bring back moose (37%) and boar (37%). The latter have made a controversial return to the UK in recent years, reportedly due to “guerrilla rewilding” – with some 20 feral hogs spotted (some of which were later captured and killed) in Scotland’s Cairngorms Park in February 2025. Nearly as many would support the reintroduction of lynxes (34%), which were also released illegally in Scotland earlier this year.
Three in ten Britons would see wolves return to the UK (31%) – down slightly from our 2019 poll (36%) – and a similar proportion would see bison make a comeback (30%). While a quarter wanted to see bears released in the UK when we last asked (25%), only a fifth (20%) would have them return in 2025.
Men are more likely to support reintroducing bears and wolves to the UK
Along gender lines, men (79%) and women (77%) aren’t too far apart in terms of their enthusiasm for bringing once-extinct animals back to the UK – nor when it comes to reintroducing birds of prey, beavers, or wading birds. But men would be happier to see every other animal we asked about released to the nation’s wilderness, while women may see more claws for concern.
This is particularly the case when it comes to wildcats, wild boar, lynxes and wolves, which men are approximately ten points more likely to support bringing back than women.
Part of this may be due to the greater confidence among Britain’s men that they have nothing to fear from wild predators: a previous YouGov survey found that men are far more likely than women to think they could beat an animal in a fight, including 8% who think they could triumph over a wolf.
Older Britons are less supportive of reintroducing anything more dangerous than a bird of prey
Britons of all generations are similarly supportive of rewilding in principle.
Once again, though, it can depend on the animal. Whatever their age, Britons are broadly agreed on reintegrating birds of prey, beavers, and waders to the UK ecosystem. But older Britons are less keen on the idea of apex predators roaming the Highlands or the Lake District.
While a third of Britons aged 18-24 and 25-49 would release wolves (35%) to the wilderness, this falls to 28% of those aged 50-64 and just 19% of over-60s.
As for the largest and possibly most dangerous creature we put to the public? Overall, a quarter of Britons in the 18-24 (26%) and 25-49 (27%) age groups would support repatriating brown bears – but 16% of those in the 50-64 age bracket pooh-pooh the idea, as do 8% of the oldest Britons in our poll. Not their bears to cross, perhaps.
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Photo: Getty
