Lynx, which were moved to Slovenian and Croatian forests as part of the European Life Lynx project, have become at home in them and been successfully breeding for some time.
The Life Lynx project is a European project working against the extinction of lynx in the Dinaric and Alpine forests.
Thirteen lynxes have already been released into the wild – four in Croatia and nine in Slovenia.
»The vast majority of them have survived, all of them have remained in the area for now, where there are also other lynxes. In this way, they can become involved in the population of these animals by mating,« says Tomaž Skrbinšek from the Biotechnical Faculty.
The report says a large proportion of the lynx that have arrived have already joined the population.
Scientists have recorded five litters in the Dinarides in two years. The first immigrant lynx – Gora – had puppies at least twice, if not three times. Last year, the litter was also detected in the Julian Alps.
The number of lynxes in the wild is monitored with the help of photographs from automatic cameras and genetic research.
Tomaž Skrbinšek
»The lynx’s fur is covered with spots that differ between individual lynxes. That’s how we recognize and distinguish them.«
Each cell of the lynx’s body contains unique genetic data that lynx leave in an environment with lost hair, urine and feces. Researchers also identify such lynx using DNA.
»Samples are collected and analysed in the laboratory. We can thus identify family relationships between individual lynxes. The descendants of those who immigrated in the project can be distinguished from other lynxes in the population,« adds Tomaž Skrbinšek.
Lynx from the project will continue to be closely monitored. Researchers hope to be able to confirm this year that they have created new offspring.
Points To Consider
- What is the characteristic of a lynx?
- What do they eat?
- Where are the Dinarides?
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The original version of this article was published on February 16th.
English translation courtesy of JL Flanner, Total Slovenia News, an English language website with news from and about Slovenia.