Since last summer, Sneška is taking over a task of a mother lynx. She is raising two kittens which seem to be in good shape and it will soon be time for them to find their own territory. We recorded them at dinner on their prey remains, an old roe deer buck. Studies show that lynxes select older or weaker individuals for their prey, which we observed this time on the field, too. If we take a closer look, we can see that kittens are...
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Rozi, a young female lynx from Slovenian Alps became a mother this year. She was born in 2022 and is the offspring of translocated lynxes Aida and Zois. In the Julian Alps, we filmed her with one of her cubs as they fed and explored the surroundings of their prey remains. In an area similar where Rozi has her territory, there is a territory of a young male lynx Miha, who we monitor with telemetry since the end of winter 2023. He...
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Coherent management response is crucial for long-term conservation of Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population. Slovenia is continuing their vision to conserve lynx for future generations, by adopting Strategy and Action Plan for Conservation and sustainable management of Eurasian Lynx for the Period 2024-2033, where concrete actions are defined. The conservation objectives of the Strategy are: A genetically stable and viable population,...
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Our documentary film is successfully spreading the word about the efforts to save the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population from extinction. To make it reach even more people around Europe and even further, it has been screened at film festivals, national televisions and various events. More than 8000 people already watched it on LIFE Lynx YouTube channel, where it is available with Italian, English, Romanian, Croatian, Slovenian, and...
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Now in its 40th year, the Animal Behavior Society (ABS) film festival featured top films that were produced in the preceding five years that portray important concepts in animal behavior research and education. Categories include both amateur (non-commercial) and professional (commercial) films. Films were ranked based on their accuracy, quality of narration, quality of videography, degree of anthropomorphism, and overall appeal....
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Understanding large carnivore space use is essential for effective management in human-dominated landscapes and accurate population estimates. However, Eurasian lynx show significant variation in home range sizes across Europe, which makes broader extrapolations harder. Our study, conducted in the temperate forests of the Western Carpathians across Slovakia, Czechia, and Poland, analyses the home range variations of 35 Eurasian lynx...
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The high-quality videos of lynx that you share with us are very precious as there is currently no systematic monitoring of lynx in Slovenia. Although we have not been able to identify the lynx in the footage, we will store the footage in the MBase online database, where it will be available for possible future identification. It is difficult to say whether this is a juvenile or an adult lynx, as in July the “kittens” of...
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At the end of the project we have prepared the final assessment of our project’s impacts on local economy, local communities and ecosystems services. Results are presented in a report while the most interesting figures are summarized in an infographics shown below. Click to enlarge the...
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We successfully captured video footage of lynx Sneška and her first confirmed litter since her release into the Snežnik area in Slovenia. The videos show Sneška at her den site with two healthy kittens. After spending some time nurturing her young, Sneška moved them to a new location, a common behavior for lynx to ensure the safety of their offspring. A few weeks after Sneška and her kittens vacated the den, translocated male lynx...
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The LIFE Lynx project successfully prevented the extinction of the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population. However, certain challenges still need to be addressed for the long-term population viability. To ensure the multifaceted lynx conservation activities (i.e. international collaboration, stakeholder involvement, cross-border lynx management and population surveillance and improving the population connectivity) are implemented past the...
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In mid-March, we reported that a young male lynx named Miha was captured and equipped with the telemetry collar on the Jelovica plateau. Soon after his release back into the forests, we noticed that he was meeting with a female lynx Talia, who was translocated and released near Tarvisio in the scope of the ULyCA2 project. After her release in Italy, Talia established her territory in Slovenia on Jelovica plateau. Since it was still...
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In Romania, lynx does not have just a day for celebration (International Lynx Day), but an entire festival. LYNX Festival aims at bridging the connection of people to nature through documentary films and photography, and its name was inspired by the emblematic feline and the hardships that the organizers faced to photograph this beautiful animal in the wilderness of the Carpathians. This year, the second edition of the festival...
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International Lynx Day has been celebrated since 2018, at the initiative of the Interreg CE 3Lynx project. Lynx in Europe are endangered and would struggle to survive without human help. To save the lynx in Dinaric Mountains and SE Alps we have brought 18 lynxes from the Carpathian Mountains to save the population from extinction and 14 of them successfully included into the population. LIFE LYNX’ GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS: ◉ The number...
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Successful translocation of Carpathian lynx and their integration in the remnant population in Dinaric Mountains and SE Alps was the core activity of the LIFE Lynx project. Understanding the baseline genetic and demographic status of the reintroduced Dinaric lynx population and close surveillance of the reinforcement process over the period of 4 years enabled us to assess the final effects of the reinforcement. At the population level...
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We bring you great news, after almost 3,5 years of coordination, Croatia has adopted a new lynx management plan. The expert background for the Croatian lynx management plan (with an action plan) was prepared back in 2019 as part of a broader project “Proposal of management plans for strictly protected species” (KK.06.5.2.01.0001), led by the Croatian Agency for Environment and Nature (today the Institute for Nature Protection)....
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In the scope of the LIFE Lynx project, we successfully translocated 18 Carpathian lynxes to Slovenia and Croatia, releasing 12 in the Dinaric Mountains and six in the Slovenian Alps. Our plan, guided by international best practices, focused on ensuring the survival and establishment of translocated animals. Monitoring with GPS-telemetry collars allowed us to assess their integration in the population. In the Dinaric Mountains, 9 out...
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During the LIFE Lynx project, we have learned a lot about the genetics and demography of the lynx. Data, obtained in scope of the project, were used to update the computer model of lynx population development, which helps us to take a look into the future of the population. We simulated the Dinaric and the SE Alpine stepping stone populations and investigated the role of its connectivity in reducing inbreeding. Even low gene flow is...
Read MoreThe main goal of the LIFE Lynx project was to genetically reinforce the lynx population in the Dinarides and to establish a new stepping stone lynx population in the Alps. We have prepared two reports, summarizing lynx reintroduction activities in Dinaric region and SE Alps. In the reports you can find out which lynx were introduced into the Alpine and Dinaric areas, their personal details, and the areas of release. The reports also...
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At the end of the LIFE Lynx project, we published a report summarizing the essence of the project – why and how we saved the lynx from extinction in the Dinaric Mountains and SE Alps. The report is primarily written for the general public and anyone who would like to learn about the key ideas and actions that have been implemented during the project. It shows the joint efforts of eleven project partners from five countries...
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Documentary film “Migration of cats from the Carpathians” was premiered on Tuesday April 16, 2024 in a movie theatre Forum in Zagreb. This event also marked the closure of LIFE Lynx project implementation in Croatia. Documentary film presents the efforts of Croatian team’s work in the scope of the LIFE Lynx project. It unveils a facet of the complex international collaboration required to rescue the endangered...
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The last LCG meeting in the project was organized in Gospić on 28th of March 2024, where we were welcomed by Public Institution Nature Park Velebit. They have been of huge help during all the field activities in the LIFELynx project and they are going to continue with camera trap based monitoring in the years to come. Other public institutions also took part in the meeting: Lika-Senj County, National Park Northern Velebit, National...
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Between 2019 and 2023, we intensively followed the process of integration of the translocated lynx into the Dinaric SE Alpine population. We were studying the impacts of these translocations on the Dinaric SE-Alpine lynx population by recording signs of lynx presence and lynx mortality, systematic camera-trapping and telemetry tracking and non-invasive genetic sampling. Besides the LIFE Lynx project staff, more than 200 hunters,...
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Understanding public perceptions helps wildlife management authorities and conservationists gauge the level of acceptance or opposition to the presence of lynx in specific regions. Within the LIFE Lynx project, we had the unique opportunity to study the attitudes of different stakeholder groups (general public, hunters, and livestock breeders) before, during, and after translocation of 18 animals from Romania and Slovakia to Slovenia...
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A special issue of the Goldhorn Bulletin is dedicated to the protection and conservation of the lynx. In compiles results of research of lynx monitoring approaches (on population and individual level, public attitudes surveys and ecological connectivity. The Bulletin was distributed to various hunting families (clubs) in Slovenia with the aim of raising awareness among hunters about the importance of lynx conservation for future...
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The documentary film “Path of the Lynx” is a tribute to the hunters whose enthusiasm has made it possible for Europe’s largest cat to live on in our forests. While documentary “Together for Lynx” presents our project activities and efforts to stop another extinction of the Dinaric – SE Alpine lynx population. Both are available on our YouTube channel. And now we present to you a third documentary!...
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Genetic analysis has confirmed that lynx Matic, who was fitted with GPS collar in January this year, is in fact the offspring of translocated male lynx Goru and local female lynx Teja. Matic dispersed to the area of Velika Gora and Stojna in Kočevsko region of Slovenia. Matic was filmed in his homerange. Video: Franc Kljun, Biotechnical Faculy, University of Ljubljana. Telemetry data currently indicates that Matic has a territory with...
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At the beginning of the LIFE Lynx project, we produced a teachers’ manual Ecology and Conservation Biology of Lynx, which we have now updated with information collected from its users. New version of the handbook was presented at various workshops and we have collected feedback from teachers on its content. It can be used as a teaching tool in schools and also in the field on the Lynx Educational Trail. All schools...
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In order to prevent potential lynx attacks on small livestock, the LIFE Lynx project distributed damage prevention equipment to help farmers in areas where lynx is present. The lynx is an active predator that is used to hunt its prey in different environments, but mostly in forested areas where its main prey, the roe deer, is present. In human-dominated landscapes, which characterize most parts of Central Europe, many pastures are...
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Just a few days before the end of the LIFE Lynx project, we capture and fitted with a telemetry collar another lynx from the Gorenjska region. A 20 kg male, estimated to be 1-2 years old, was caught in a box-trap set in the area of Bohinjska Bistrica Hunting Club, in the Jelovica plateau. We assume that he is an offspring of the translocated lynxes Aida and Zois, but we will have to wait for genetic analysis to confirm this. The lynx...
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Today, we are celebrating World Rewilding Day, with a slogan “Hope into Action” to raise awareness about the benefits of nature conservation for wildlife, people, and the planet. The LIFE Lynx project has brought together experts, scientists, conservationists, hunters, and other local people from five European countries with a common goal – to save the Lynx from extinction. Their efforts are featured in the...
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Within the LIFE Lynx project we also focused on the future of the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population. On its own, the population remains too small to avoid the increase of inbreeding in the next decades, and will need gene flow from other populations, either naturally through establishment of a Dinaric – Alpine metapopulation, or assisted with translocations. We explored the impact of the translocations on the lynx population using...
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It started with the funds for reimbursing local people for travel expenses to attend meetings of the so-called Local Consultative Groups (LCGs). And then at the first meetings the idea came up – what if we could do something different with these funds? And we did. At the following meetings, LCG members suggested different ideas on what we could do in their own neighbourhood related to the lynx. As expected, there were more good...
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The LIFE Lynx project continues the work of hunters and foresters who brought back the lynx in Dinaric Mountains in 1973; their work is presented in our first film Path of the Lynx. Another extinction was threatening Lynx in Slovenia and Croatia. The main reason was inbreeding. LIFE Lynx project has joined experts, conservationists, researchers, and hunters from five European countries, with a common goal – to save the lynx from...
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Sneška is the last lynx translocated in the scope of the LIFE Lynx project and the only female lynx translocated and released in the Dinaric part of the Dinaric –SE Alpine lynx population. About two months after her release in Snežnik area, she headed north and later on established her territory in Rakitna between Iški Vintgar gorge and Borovnica. In this area, a male lynx Catalin has his territory. We are monitoring both lynxes with...
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Your favorite young lynx character from the book The Mighty Lynx is now making here appearance in a short animated film. Juniper Tuftytips with her brother Oaky Sharpclaws takes her first steps into their home forest and discovers what it takes to be a (mighty) lynx and how researchers monitor their movements. *The cartoon is in Slovenian lanugage, but you can turn on English subtitles in...
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At the beginning of February, a very special day took place at Naklo Primary School. Seven different activities or stations with lynx topics were presented at the school. The Young Lynx Guardians, together with their teacher Špela Eržen, held an open-door day for younger pupils! The younger classes took part in a quiz about the lynx, jumping from a spot – like a lynx jumping from an ambush when hunting, e-lessons (a kind of...
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In January, researchers from the Biotechnical Faculty – Department of Biology in collaboration with the ZOO Ljubljana’s veterinary team, captured and collared a young male lynx weighing 23.5 kg in the area of Velika Gora near Ribnica. They named it Matic, after a local hunter. It was estimated to be about 3 years old. Matic, who is most likely a descendant of the lynx Goru, has been recorded several times before in the...
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Well – the lynx! These days there are two films screening in Slovenian cinema; Together for Lynx and The Lynx. After watching a documentary film The Lynx, depicting life of lynxes in the Jura Mountains, we held a workshop for 9th graders as part of the school programme at Kinodvor Cinema in Ljubljana. Photographer and video maker Laurent Geslin filmed the descendants of the reintroduced lynxes, following them in the wild and...
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The LIFE Lynx project is now almost at the finish line. Project partners met in Slovenia for the last time to agree on the final outputs of the project. Project Monitor and representative of the biggest project co-financer, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, agreed that the project achieved and even overachieved many of the goals set in the project proposal. Magda Sindičić, from Faculty for Veterinary Medicine...
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Latest LIFE Lynx activities are gathered in the last project Bulletin, available in English and in four other project languages: For a printed version, please write to [email protected] or contact a LIFE Lynx project partner from your...
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Following the publication of the revised version of the Handbook for investigation of poaching, which was prepared in Slovenian language, we also prepared an English version of the revised handbook. The Handbook serves as a reference for all relevant institutions involved in the detection, investigation, and sanctioning of wildlife crime. The revised English version will also serve as a good practice example for international...
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Two lynx-themed books are now available also in English. The Slovenian writer and LIFE Lynx ambassador, Desa Muck, wrote a wonderful and educational story about the true events of a lynx’s life. The main star is Max, the bravest lynx (in the world). She takes us on a journey with some happy but also sad adventures Max has to endure to find… well, you can read his story and find out. The book is available at Založba Muck...
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The MBase web portal contains project images of lynx obtained by systematic monitoring of the population using camera traps. In addition, the portal provides access to the locations and movements of those lynx that have been fitted with a telemetry collar in the frame of the project. How to access this data, has already been described in our previous news about Goru, Catalin and Blisk. It is a web-based interactive portal with a...
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Considering the programme of the Podnart Cultural Association, last Friday was a completely ordinary day – with a varied programme. We started with drawing; children drew lynx motifs and lynx patterns in the silhouettes and coloured sketches of the lynx. At the same time, they listened to a reading of the book “Mighty lynx” written by Boštjan Gorenc Pižama. After an enjoyable hour of drawing, several adults joined us. We watched...
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We have good news from the Javorniki hills above Cerknica Lake: a female lynx with two cubs was recorded on automatic cameras! In the autumn, hunters from the area told us that they had seen a female with cubs, but unfortunately none of them managed to record it. That area is also a territory of lynx Blisk, who has been translocated there from Romania in 2022 and regularly tracked via GPS telemetry ever since. During the mating season...
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In mid-December 2023, in collaboration with the cycling community gravgrav.cc and the cycling store Loose Cycles, we organized an event for cyclists. During the introductory part of the event, we first presented the lynx, the challenges faced by the population, and the efforts of our project for the conservation and protection of the species. Max Riese from Grav Grav introduced the collaboration with the project and the development of...
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The newly elected president of Hunters association of Slovenia, Alojz Kovšca and the president of Styrian hunter organization, Franz Mayr-Melnhof-Saurau opened an exchange of knowledge and experience visit in the Triglav National Park. LIFE Lynx project hosted Austrian hunters, to show them how Slovenian hunters were involved in lynx conservation. The guests from Austria received first-hand information on the major outputs of the LIFE...
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Researchers from the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, DivjaLabs, University of Laussanne and LECA in Grenoble published a scientific article on successful recognition of brown bear (Ursus arctos), wolf (Canis lupus) and lynx (Lynx lynx) individuals from their eDNA collected from their snowtracks. The method has vast potential to complement the standard non-invasive genetic methods used for wildlife. Collecting...
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In 2023, the Hunters Association of Slovenia organized an international lynx conservation conference entitled ‘Hunters and lynx conservation in Europe’. Representatives of hunting and other nature conservation organizations from 10 different European countries were present at the conference. They had the opportunity to hear about the involvement of hunters in various activities of the LIFE Lynx project, the status of the...
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Since December 2021 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb, in partnership with Geonatura, was participating in “Development of a monitoring program for large carnivores with capacity building of stakeholders in the monitoring and reporting system“, within the OPCC project “Development of Monitoring Systems for Species and Habitat Types” implemented by Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development....
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Together for Lynx was selected for screening at Slovenian movie festival – Festival gorniškega filma, member of International Alliance for Mountain Film, showcasing a rich selection of films about mountains. Our film will be screened on February 16 in Ljubljana and February 12 in Celje. Programme is available here: https://gorniski.si/dogodki/together-for-lynx/ In December, the audience of Bovec Outdoor Film Festival (BOFF) selected...
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At the beginning of 2023, we were lucky enough to capture four lynx cubs in the Slovenian Alps for telemetry tracking. The first one, Rozi, is a female offspring of a lynx pair, which was translocated to the Slovenian Alps from the Carpathians in 2021. The other three, Meri, Flori and Andrej, represent the first generation of lynx born in the Triglav National Park. Their parents were also translocated from the Carpathians with the aim...
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Annual evaluation of indicators for assessing impacts of project actions on local economy and communities and on ecosystem functions for 2022 has been published on the LIFE Lynx project website. We have been monitoring the indicators since the beginning of the project, and each year we prepare a short report on them. In doing so, we try to show how the project activities have impacted social constructs and issues such as how has the...
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With a previously developed cross-cultural exchange history, the connection between the University of Montana and the LIFE Lynx project goes on. The Romanian team colleague Andrei Dinu is now studying at this University and has embraced the opportunity to share the story of our project with his colleagues and professors. Besides the casual conversations on and off campus throughout the semester, the key lessons and existing challenges...
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In November, we joined forces with the providers of the innovative WINESPERIENCE® ART workshops, where participants paint an acrylic picture under the guidance of an experienced artist. This time, the theme of the painting evening was the lynx. During the creation process, the members of the project team presented the project and showed the main characteristics of the lynx. Participants were able to touch the fur and the skull, get to...
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In November, our film Together for Lynx was also brought to Ilirska Bistrica, where we joined forces with the local Municipality and Dragotin Kette Primary School to organise a film event with a school play. First we watched two short films made by Dragotin Kette Primary School’s Young Lynx Guardians . They filmed different forest animals with the LIFE Lynx camera traps, which they then compiled into likeable videos:...
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In the last two weeks, we combined the screening of the film “Together for lynx” with the annual meetings of the members of the Local Consultative Groups (LCGs). We regret that these were the last two meetings of this kind, but we were happy to be able to thank those who contributed to the project! In the Alps, we met at the Infocentre of the Triglav National Park in Bled, with whom we co-organised the event, and in the...
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In the comfort of our seats at the Ljubljana Book Fair in November, we chatted with Desa Muck and Boštjan Gorenc – Pižama, about their books, written in collaboration with the LIFE Lynx project. We talked about what makes Brave Maks so courageous and what makes Mighty Lynx so larky. We would like to thank both authors for a relaxed conversation. And thank you for the laughs! The event was prepared by Miš d.o.o., Muck Blažina...
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The 16th edition of the Bovec Outdoor Film Festival will present 27 films with outdoor sports, nature, and ecology topics. We are proud to announce that Together for Lynx was selected to be one of nine Slovenian movies screened at the festival. From December 28 to 30, films, lectures, and other events will take place at the Stergulčeva House in Bovec. The programme with descriptions of the films is available on the BOFF website,...
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Lukaš was the last lynx released in the Gorenjska region within the LIFE Lynx project. The purpose of his release into the forests of Jelovica in the middle of April was to join the female Aida after Zois’ disappearance. However, Lukaš chose a different path and headed towards the Karavanke Mountains. Later on it seemed that he had settled in the area between Karavanke and Kamnik-Savinja Alps, where he stayed for about four months....
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We started the last lynx live-capturing season in Slovenia for the purpose of telemetry monitoring. Just three days after setting 5 traps in the region, a trap was triggered in the hunting ground of LD Nomenj Gorjuše, in which the lynx Lenka was captured. She is one of the three lynxes, released in the area of Pokljuka in 2021. Unfortunately, shortly after the release in 2021, her telemetry collar stopped working, but we kept...
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We have published English translation of the booklet “In the Footsteps of Lynx Mala“, which complements the Lynx Trail, which starts and ends near the Jelenov studenec hut, south-west of Kočevje. The booklet will take children on a very special adventure with lynx Mala and Urša, the explorer. Together they will observe the forest, learn about the tracks of different animals and the places where the lynx likes to walk or rest. They...
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The nationwide competition “My Country – Beautiful and Hospitable” is organised by the Tourist Association of Slovenia and focuses on the tidiness of places, the quality of tourist offerings, marketing and promotion of tourist products, and a clean environment. Many Slovenian towns and cities participate in the competition. They are visited and evaluated by a state commission composed of experts in landscape architecture,...
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Ljubljana – Trieste highway in Slovenia has been long recognized as a strong barrier for wildlife passing between the Dinaric Mountains and the South Eastern Alps, including the lynx. While habitat suitability for lynx is high at both sides of the highway, the infrastructure represents a serious barrier for lynx to cross as it has no wildlife crossing structures. However, to everyone’s surprise, one of the translocated lynx,...
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Volunteers and interns are very valuable part of the LIFE Lynx team. Besides working with students and volunteers from our own countries, we are keen on cooperating with students from other countries, to share our expertise and knowledge outside of country borders of LIFE Lynx partner countries. During the last year, Beatrice Caimi, student from the University of Milano, joined Croatian LIFE Lynx team and used monitoring data to...
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At the LIFE Lynx Final conference that was held in the last week of September in Croatia project partners presented many important achievements implemented in the six years of the project. Seventeen lecturers had the opportunity to share the LIFE Lynx story to more than 150 participants, which came from 20 different countries. Additionally, all participants were invited to present results of their lynx related activities through a...
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This week, the largest ever European lynx conference was convened in Zadar, hosted by the oldest Croatian university, where more than 150 scientists and experts dedicated to lynx research and protection came together. The conference was organized by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb in collaboration with the BIOM association in the scope of the LIFE Lynx project. At the beginning, Professor Slaven Zjalić, the...
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Telemetry data on our resident and translocated lynx, provided by animal-borne telemetry collars, is a valuable source of information on lynx movements, space use, and activity. Telemetry data of the lynx, monitored during our project, are now also available on the project’s MBase online viewer. For example, telemetry data on the translocated lynx Catalin over the last three years shows us how Catalin uses space, corridors and...
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A local hunter sent us a video of a female lynx with three playful kittens. Our team recognized her as a resident female lynx, offspring of Romanian lynx Goru and local female Teja. She was born in 2020, in the same year as lynx Niko, and later on established her territory in the area of Mala Gora and Suha Krajina (Slovenia). From the camera trapping monitoring, we know that Goru is one of the most successful translocated lynx if not...
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During the lynx monitoring in Slovenia, we have recorded lynx more than a thousand times with automatic cameras. The photos are used to identify individual lynx, which in turn helps us to determine how many lynx are living in Slovenia. Photo-trap images are also usually the first to tell us which female has how many cubs, or to uncover many new facts about life of the lynx. In order to display lynx images, we have therefore upgraded...
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Tourist Association of Slovenia is organizing the My Country – Beautiful and Hospitable 2023 competition for the 32nd consecutive year. As part of the competition, they are also looking for the best thematic trails, which are important both from the perspective of nature conservation and the dispersal of tourist flows. Together with the Kočevsko Institute, we have submitted the Lynx Trail to the competition. Members of the...
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In early September, as part of the LIFE Lynx project, we organized a study visit for a limited number of foreign journalists and tourist operators. We presented to them the benefits of the presence of lynx and other large carnivores for the local community, especially in terms of ecotourism development and enriching the tourism offerings. The participants of the study visit were first welcomed at the Department of Biology,...
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Today we premiered the new documentary Together for Lynx, which depicts the efforts of the LIFE Lynx project to save the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population from extinction. Together with the film, we also presented the new children’s books about lynx, »Huda risinja« and »Pogumni Maks«, by Slovenian writers Boštjan Gorenc Pižama and Desa Muck. “The film shows only part of the effort needed to revitalize a once extinct...
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We proudly present the trailer for the LIFE Lynx documentary film Together for Lynx – saving the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population from another extinction. The LIFE Lynx project has brought 18 lynx from healthy populations in the Carpathian Mountains to Slovenia and Croatia, with an aim to introduce new genes in a highly inbreed Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population. The project has joined experts, conservationists, researchers, and...
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On Friday, July 21, 2023, in the area of the ‘Ričićko bilo’ hunting ground (Primorsko-goranska county, Croatia) the fourth and last resident male lynx was successfully captured and fitted with a satellite collar as part of the LIFE Lynx project. The lynx was named Slavko and we’ve known him since December 2021, when we first photographed him with camera-traps. At the end of August, the first data from his collar...
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LIFE Lynx project donated books Brave Maks to Young Lynx Guardians schools and Schools from the Julian Alps Biosphere Reserve. The stories of the reintroduced lynxes have inspired a writer and lynx ambassador Desa Muck, who has written a book called Pogumni Maks, which introduces young readers to the challenges and joys of a lynx’s life. The main character is Maks, a lynx who, in search of free territory and females, has travelled...
Read MoreLynx Kras was released in the Plitvice Lakes National Park on March 25, 2023. He arrived from Romania as the 6th and the last lynx that was released in Croatia in the scope of the LIFE Lynx project with a mission to increase the genetic diversity of Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population. After the release, Kras made a short stop at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then returned to Plitvice. In the mid-April he went on a trip to...
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Lynxes reproduce once a year and kittens are born in late May and during July. On camera traps we start capturing them from the late summer, early autumn. As this period of the year is approaching, we made an overview of lynx reproduction in Croatia in the past season. Season 2022-23 started fantastic. Already on July 18, 2022 we got our first photograph of lynx kittens. Female Eva was captured on marking spot near Crni Lug with two...
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Motovun Film Festival is one of the most respected film festivals in Croatia. This year the festival took place for the 25th and the last time in Motovun, and then moved to a new location – hill Petehovac near Delnice. As Gorski kotar is central part of large carnivore distribution, festival organizers invited LIFE Lynx team to participate in the program. For two days we presented our activities under the title “Wolf, bear and...
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There are many NGOs working in wildlife conservation and animal welfare with whom we are happy to share the knowledge gathered in the scope of the LIFE Lynx project. With this in mind, we planned for them field trips, and hot summer months are ideal for that. In July, Slovenian partners met with members of Societies Društvo za zaščito živali, Društvo študentov naravoslovja, Biodiva, and Dinaricum. After first introductions about...
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The 221-kilometre-long Lynx Cycling Trail, which takes you from Pivka in Slovenia through the Snežník forests and Gorski Kotar to Rijeka in Croatia, has already attracted some cyclists in the two months since it was set up. The first to ride the trail were two Austrian cyclists, Maria Prasch and Gabriele Ruthofer. After their arrival in Rijeka, they told us that they really enjoyed cycling through the beautiful and changeable Dinaric...
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This school year, the Gymnasium Franceta Prešeren has been integrating topics about large carnivores, especially lynx and wolves in Slovenia and Europe, into various subjects, both natural and social sciences. The Gymnasium is part of the Young Lynx Guardians programme in the framework of the LIFE Lynx project, and they are also Stewards within the LIFE WOLFALPS EU project. Because the lynx and the wolf are so different in their...
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The last lynx, translocated and released in the scope of the LIFE Lynx project was Sneška. She is an adult female, captured in Slovakia and released in forests of Snežnik Mountain, hence the name, Sneška, given to her by the members of Local Consultative Groups. After the release, Sneška explored the area between Loški Potok and Ribnica, around Velika gora but left it after about two months, headed north and is now moving in the area...
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Do you know who can sneak up on a lynx’s prey? Why does a lynx use its whiskers or why can its eyes reflect light at night? What needs to be done before a lynx can be relocated from the Carpathians to Slovenia? All this and more interesting facts about the lynx can be found in the new didactic guidelines for the Lynx educational trail in Kočevsko. In addition to the basic topics covered in the trail, these guidelines also...
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In the middle of June, the LIFE Lynx team took part in the “Festival zdravja” in Kobarid, where we presented the lynx and the LIFE Lynx project. Our stand especially attracted children who visited the festival accompanied by their teachers. They were thrilled to be able to take a closer look and touch the lynx fur, skull and paw print casts of all three large carnivores living in Slovenia. Some visitors also tried their hand at the...
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On Tuesday June 13 2023, the fifth (last) lynx in the ULyCA2 (Urgent Lynx Conservation Actions) project was released in the Tarvisio forest. Attempts to return the lynx to the Italian Julian Alps date back to 1975, when Italians relocated two lynxes in Gran Paradiso National Park, but unfortunately the relocation was unsuccessful. In 2013 members of Progetto Lince Italia launched the ULyCA project in the framework of which in 2014 two...
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A good understanding of the status of a threatened population, such as the Dinaric lynx, is crucial for its conservation and management. We have been monitoring the lynx in Slovenia and Croatia with camera traps in a coordinated way since 2018 and we publish the results of this effort annually. However, we limit usually the results to the minimum population size, i.e. the number of adult lynx identified on camera trap recordings,...
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Last month we reported on recollaring female Petra, where we confirmed her pregnancy through an ultrasound inspection. A month later, we are now happy to confirm that Petra has successfully given birth to two heathy kittens. At 4 weeks old, both kittens seem to be in good physical condition, weighing 1.1 and 1.2 kg. In order to gather more information about the kittens, we collected genetic samples, which will help us determine the...
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Teachers are an important part of the Local Consultative Groups, and we are also working more actively with nine teachers through the Young Lynx Guardians programme. This programme is itself slowly coming to an end as the project draws to a close. At the press conference we asked these teachers to give us their views on why they decided to take part in the project and how it was received by their pupils and students. So here are the...
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Lukaš is the last lynx released in the Gorenjska region within the LIFE Lynx project. We released him in the middle of April in the forests of Jelovica, with a wish to bring a new male to the female Aida. However, Lukaš chose a different path and soon after his release, he headed towards Dražgoše and then on past Kranj and set off to explore the Karavanke Mountains. He first stayed in the area of Storžič, then went to the other side...
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We prepared updated versions of habitat suitability maps, a revised report, and the newly generated GIS files. We managed to acquire more lynx occurrence data from the Alpine region and with this improve the accuracy of habitat suitability predictions for lynx in the Alps. Having good occurrence data means that the data is accurate, precise, and representative of the species’ distribution. By combining multiple sources of...
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The introduction of lynx is crucial for saving the Dinaric-Southeastern Alpine lynx population, but it is not enough on its own. Working with people is important for lynx conservation, because we are the ones who decide what happens to the lynx population. The attitude of generations of those who will follow the descendants of the introduced lynx in the coming decades is also important. Involving schools in lynx-related topics is a...
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From May 24 to 26, as part of the LIFE Lynx project, the Slovenian Forest Service hosted guests from North Macedonia and France. The Macedonian guests were representatives of the Macedonian Ecological Society, the Ministries (Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy), Mavrovo National Park and the National Forests Public Enterprise. The guests from France were educators and...
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Would you like to have fun, ride your bike, protect the lynx and learn about large carnivores? Bikepacking is combining riding your bike with exploring nature. We ride through nature, learn about it and get in touch with it while taking time off from our everyday lives. The Lynx Trail Bikepacking route leads you through the remote karst landscapes of the Dinaric mountains, thick forests and seasonal lakes all the way from Pivka to the...
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International Lynx Day has been celebrated since 2018, on the initiative of the Interreg CE 3Lynx project. Lynx in Europe are endangered and would struggle to survive without human help. Inbreeding is the main threat to lynx in the Dinarides, so we are saving them by introducing new healthy lynx, coming from the Carpathian Mountains. The LIFE Lynx project has brought 18 lynx from the Carpathian Mountains to save the Dinaric-SE Alpine...
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Valentina is the offspring of Goru, an adult lynx that established its territory in the area of Mala Gora near Ribnica, and Teja, a territorial female from the same area. Valentina has been monitored by telemetry since February last year, when members of the LIFE Lynx team from the Biotechnical faculty captured two young lynx sisters, Valentina and Neža, in one day. During Valentina’s path towards adulthood, it seemed that she...
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During the past 20 years seven lynx orphans were found in Croatia, while four of those animals were found in the past five years. Experience with those animals showed us Croatia is lacking appropriate protocols for management of lynx orphans, so we used the opportunity to prepare Guidelines for management of lynx orphans in Croatia (pdf in Croatian) within the LIFE Lynx project, even though this document was not originally planned in...
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First workshops were organised in Croatia. Within an open door day in Krasno the school children were divided into two groups, depending on their age. While the younger group coloured lynx silhouettes, the older played a game in photo-identification. Second Open door day in Croatia was carried out in Primary school Vrbovsko, in cooperation with a local hunter. In Slovenia after having a workshop and a field trip with Young Guardians...
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Kras, the last lynx released in Croatia with the aim of increasing the genetic diversity of the Dinaric population, started exploring his new home shortly after his release. The first set of data obtained from the telemetry collar shows that within the first two weeks, Kras crossed the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but soon returned to the area of the Plitvice National Park, near the release site. Soon after, he changed his...
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Our project has reached its final stage and the last year of its implementation. Last six years were an incredible journey, 11 partner institutions from 5 countries successfully implemented numerous actions to ensure the bright future of the Dinaric and SE Alpine lynx population. We are very proud of our results and we would like to share them with you at the final conference of the LIFE Lynx project. This conference will serve as a...
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