Dear LIFE Lynx followers, yesterday the LIFE Awards expert jury recognized the project as the best in Europe in the nature conservation and biodiversity category and also the public voted us as the audience award winners. Thank you all for your support, we wouldn’t be here without you! The awards were accepted by Gregor Danev, Director of the Slovenia Forest Service, and Rok Černe, coordinator of the LIFE Lynx project. The jury,...
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Last week, a new scientific publication about lynx monitoring in Slovenia was published, highlighting the importance of involving hunters as citizen scientists in the process. The paper represents the most detailed description of the lynx monitoring program in Slovenia, which was developed with the help of the LIFE Lynx project. Specifically, it explains how combining data from questionnaires, chance observations and systematic camera...
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The research project “Extreme Predator“, led by Biotehnical Faculty, focuses on the role of apex predators such as lynx in extreme environments such as the Alps. Monitoring lynx and studying predation in the high mountains presents new challenges, especially due to the difficult accessibility and remoteness of the area. By trapping lynx in the Alps, researchers will determine how lynxes forage and which species rely on...
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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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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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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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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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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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