The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) said it worked alongside Police Scotland overnight to humanely trap the “KillieHuntly Two”, who are said to be in good health.

Authorities have said they do not yet know who released the lynx, but believe it was driven by a desire to reintroduce the species – something which conservation charities have supported for years.

Beavers have been effectively reintroduced in Scotland as a result of illegal or accidental releases in the early 2000s.

However, the illegal release has been condemned by one of three charities in the Lynx to Scotland Project, which seeks a mandate for a trial reintroduction of lynx.

“We understand the frustration of all those who wish to see lynx restored to the Scottish landscape, but an illegal release is not the way to achieve that aim,” Peter Cairns, executive director of Scotland: The Big Picture, told the BBC.

RZSS chief executive David Field added: “It was a highly irresponsible act and it is very unlikely they would have survived in the wild due to a lack of adequate preparation.”

The two cats are being cared for in quarantine facilities at Highland Wildlife Park – already home to two grown northern lynx, a subspecies of the Eurasian lynx – before being transferred to Edinburgh Zoo.

The charity has appealed for anyone with information on how they came to be in the area to contact Police Scotland.