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Early man in Scotland was confronted with a very different fauna from that today. As the last ice-sheets retreated northwards and the climate improved, the land evolved first as tundra and
steppe, inhabited by the animals typical of those regions. In the famous bone caves at Inchnadamph in west Sutherland, for example, the remains of early man are found interspersed with those of the Arctic fox,
cave bear and Arctic lemming. Then, as the climate warmed, so the animal life changed with it. In the lowlands, wild horses roamed the plains and moose, lynx, wolves and bears abounded in the vast and
varied woods. The giant denizen of the forest, the Irish elk, was contemporary with man in southern Britain, although it is unlikely that it still existed in the north by the time man ultimately reached Scotland.
The urus or aurock however, most certainly did. The urus, a wild ox of enormous size survived in Europe until the early 16th century, but it probably became extinct in Scotland in prehistoric times. The reasons
why many species disappeared at this time can only be surmised, but there were two significant factors: a changing climate with its associated effects on habitants, and also, to a lesser extent, the hand of
prehistoric man. Another event that greatly influenced the characteristic assemblage of animals we have today was the severing of our land links with the continent of Europe, 7-8000 years ago. Only those few
animals that had migrated northwards overland early after the last Ice Age were able to establish themselves on the mainland of Britain. The bird and bats were still able to colonise later, of course, and man
deliberately or inadvertently introduced many others. Nevertheless, the fauna of Britain is far less varied than that of the continent.Once man had become firmly established in Britain and his numbers
increased, he had a greater impact on the animals and on their environment. But while his actions have led to the disappearance of many species in Scotland, very few have actually become extinct in a world
context. One exception is the great auk or garefowl. This large, flightless bird lived in vast
colonies, much as the penguins do in southern latitudes today, and provides a clear example of man directly causing the extinction of an animal. It remains have been found in many prehistoric refuse tips and it
was obviously an abundant bird. But from that time we can trace its gradual downfall. Its flesh was good to eat, its feathers valuable and the
fat could be used as fuel and light. So this lumbering, vulnerable bird stood little chance against the onslaught of the early sailors as ships
crossed the Atlantic to the coast of North America. It last bred on St.Kilda in 1758 and although a few individuals were occasionally noted up until the 1820s, the last seen in 1840 on St.Kilda marked the end of
the great auk in Scotland. On June 4th 1844, on the Stack of Eldey off southwest Iceland, the last known species was killed.
Many more birds vanished from our shores, the birds of prey being especially persecuted by man. The white tailed, sea eagle,  osprey, goshawk and kite all disappeared from Scotland
during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Happily some species have now recolonised either naturally, such as the osprey, or through deliberate reintroduction's, such as the
sea eagle and goshawk. The capercaillie, a species of grouse was the characteristic bird of the old Caledonian pine forest. A cumbersome bird - its wingspan can reach
4 feet and it can generate a tremendous amount of noise when it is taking off for flight - the capercaillie makes a strange calling noise when on its display ground. This call
consists of a series of subdued clicks, followed by a sound like a cork popping and then long rasping sounds - such a quiet song for so large a bird. The capercaillie was though to
be extinct in Scotland by the end of the 18th century but following introductions from  Scandinavia, beginning in 1837, it established itself again in many areas. However, its future is still by no means secure,
and unless efforts are made to create and maintain enough of its natural habitat of old conifer woods, it could yet again be written off as 'once occurred in Scotalnd'.
But it is undoubtedly the extinct mammals that arouse most interest. Apart from our native red and roe deer and the long absent giant fallow, two other deer once graced our shores,
the elk(moose) and reindeer. Both were still present in the 9th century, and according to James Ritchie in his classic book "The influence of man on animal
life in Scotland" (1920), moose most likely existed later, for there are traditional Gaelic tales  of the great extinct deer, Miol or Lon, that clearly relate to moose roaming the highlands. Similarly the reindeer could
well have survived much later, and according to the 'Orkneyinga Saga', the Earls of Orkney, used to cross Caithness every summer to hunt the red deer. This would
mean that the reindeer still existed there in the mid 12th century, and it is unlikely that the authors, so familiar with both the species would mistake the red deer for reindeer.  |
