Researchers from the Biotechnical Faculty captured on camera traps a female lynx with two pups in the Slovenian Alps. This confirms that lynxes in the Southeastern Alps also have at least one litter this year. When video was taken, the two young lynxes were about three months old and are easily distinguished by the pattern of spots and patches on their fur.
The footage was taken as part of the only lynx research currently being carried out in Slovenia by researchers from the Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources in the ARIS-funded core project ExtremePredator and its extension CitizensForLynx. They use camera traps to monitor the ecological role of lynx in the Alpine region and are therefore also placed next to the detected remains of lynx prey. Interestingly, the cameras filmed a female and her cubs at a prey site that was also visited by a male lynx Andrej, only a few minutes apart. Encounters between lynx, especially outside the mating season, are currently a rather poorly studied area and such recordings help us to better understand the species.