In the last week before the beginning of the summer holidays, the project LIFE Lynx held two field excursions with primary schools involved in our Young Lynx Guardian Programme.
On Monday, June 20, we hiked the Lynx educational trail at Jelenov studenec above Kočevje with the sixth and seventh grade students of Sodražica Elementary School and visited the lynx enclosure in Loško Potok. On the lynx trail, we learned about the life and ecology of the lynx and took part in challenges set by the lynx Mala. The presedent of the Loški Potok hunting family, Stanko Anzeljc, gave us an insight into the hunters’ care of the lynxes Goru and Boris, who were released from the enclosure in 2019 and 2020. The field day was enjoyed by both the students and teachers, who asked us for more information about the project and the lynx, which they will include in their lessons.
Together with the eighth grade of the Koroška Bela Jesenice Primary School, we first visited the Mašun Forest House with a permanent exhibition about large carnivores and their forests. Later on we hiked on the Mašun Forest Trail, where the pupils learned in an interesting way about the richness and importance of forests and their diverse inhabitants, focusing on all three species of large carnivores living in the area. Afterwards, the students visited the Snežnik enclosure, from which the lynx Blisk was released in May this year, and were able to see the remains of its food in the enclosure. Uroš Grželj, professional hunter in the State managed hunting ground Jelen, shared his interesting experiences with lynx in the enclosure, and the pupils were also fascinated by his two dogs.