STRUGGLING sheep farmers in Norway have spoken of their surprise at calls to 'rewild' Scotland by reintroducing wild predator species such as lynx and wolves.

Norwegian Farmers' Union vice-president Kristin Ianssen said that Scotland should investigate what works in other countries before considering reintroducing wild carnivores.

The Rewilding Britain charity, whose supporters include the Forestry Commission and the John Muir Trust, wants to see new national parks being created in the Highlands which could be used to re-establish extinct species.

And Lynx UK Trust, a charity, wants to bring back the animals to selected locations in the UK, including Aberdeenshire some1,300 years after they became extinct.

Norway, which has significantly lower sheep production than Scotland, is home to around 350 lynx, 378 wolverine, 148 bears and 34 wolves living in dedicated 'wildlife' zones.

But sheep losses to predators outside these zones remains high, with 3,895 ewes and 19,671 lambs lost in 2014.

Ms Ianssen said, during a visit to Scotland, that some farmers in her home country had lost half of their herds to wild animals, and that raising sheep in areas where predators were on the prowl was no longer possible.

She said: "Norwegians are worried on behalf of Scottish farmers if carnivores are to be introduced here. We worry for the future of their sheep farming and feel sorry for them.

"We have native animals in Norway; wolves, wolverine, lynx and bears and they have lived there for centuries. Wolves had disappeared for many years because people were shooting them but the Norwegian Government decided we should have a certain amount - that was an agreement which the farmers had to adopt.

"We have a long border with Sweden to the east so we will always experience roaming carnivores in our country - it would be impossible to control. But Scotland and the UK is an island, you can decide for yourselves."

NFU Scotland met with 45 members of the Norwegian Farmers' Union on a study tour of Scotland where they highlighted the issue last week.

With around half of the land mass of Norway deemed grazing land, a key aim of the Norwegian Government is to increase food production, but Ms Ianssen said the predation problem was disturbing the breeding of sheep herds in areas which had the potential to produce a lot of food.

She said: "What we are seeing is that they cause big, big problems in areas and it is extremely hard to live with them. They have free grazing out in the forest and in the mountain and many farmers have had huge losses to all kinds of carnivores, not just lynx and wolverine but also losses to eagles and bears.

"In the worst affected areas, farmers have been forced to stop and move to areas that are less populated with the carnivores - but what happens then is the predators will also leave because they no longer have food there.

The battle against the beasts was also having a significant impact on the well-being of farmers, with many admitting to feelings of stress.

Ms Ianssen said: "One of the biggest problems they cause is the psychological stress for sheep farmers - they spend a lot of time with these animals and to be forced to stop farming is difficult. To combat it some farmers have swapped from sheep to cattle, but calves are also a target for the carnivores."

Norwegian farmers are permitted to shoot the predators and receive compensation if they lose livestock, however Ms Ianssen said the red tape involved in applying put many farmers off. The compensation scheme was, she said, only covering approximately three fifths of losses reported by farmers.

Scotland National Farmers Union vice-president Andrew McCornick has previously said: "Recent history has taught us that any species introduction can have an impact on the many benefits that the Scottish countryside currently delivers."