Goru went on an adventure

Posted - Mar 18, 2020


Lynx mating season has been in full swing for the last couple of weeks. It usually starts in mid-February and lasts until the end of March. In this period lynxes start to move around more often in search of a mate. As they increase their activity, they also start to vocalize more than usual. Especially males increase their calling, move a lot more and cover large areas, also outside of their territories.

Mala Gora – Goru’s territory. Photo: Jay Knight

At the beginning of March, our collared male Goru started an adventure. He went south, far outside from his established territory in Mala Gora in Slovenia. He crossed the river Kolpa, went towards the interior of Croatia, and is now exploring Gorski Kotar area. From telemetry data and hearing Goru’s mating calls in the forests of Mala Gora, we assume that he already mated with Teja, therefore, he left his territory in search of other females. Although it is expected for lynx males to travel long distances in mating season, we did not expect him to go this far.

Only the future can tell where he will go next, but we expect him back in Mala Gora as well as Teja probably does. Hopefully his expedition will be productive and he will transfer his genes also to the female lynxes in Croatia. This we will find out when females will have kittens in May and our geneticists will be able to sort out their paternity.