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...
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The 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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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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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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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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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 he 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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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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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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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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