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 lynx as an additional food source in these harsh conditions.
Biotechnical Faculty joined forces with Slovenia Forest Service, The Triglav National Park, ZOO Ljubljana and selected hunting clubs in the Gorenjska region. This year, we have fitted two lynxes with telemetry collars; in January, in the Bohinjska Bistrica area, we captured an adult lynx, Andrej, who was already wearing a telemetry collar as a cub, so we replaced it with a new one. Andrej is the offspring of the translocated lynxes Julia and Tris, from the 2022 litter. He was in excellent physical condition at the time of capture; weighing 23.1 kg, which is 7 kg more than when he was first captured as an adolescent lynx.
Lynx Andrej, photographed in the area of Mežakla in 2023. Photo: LIFE Lynx
A month later, another adult lynx, which we already knew from monitoring with camera traps, was caught on the Jelovica plateau. The healthy male lynx is 2-3 years old and weighed 22.5 kg at the time of capture. Local hunters named him Branko, after the hunter who helped set the trap in which the lynx was captured. Branko shares a territory with a female lynx, Talia, who established her territory in Slovenia in 2023 and had two pups the following year. It is currently the mating season for lynx, so in addition to monitoring the predation of lynxes within the Extreme Predator project, it will also be interesting to monitor their mating movements, as the males often go on mating excursions outside their territories.
Lynx Branko, photographed in the area of Jelovica. Photo: Lan Hočevar, Biotehniška Fakulteta
Experienced veterinaries from Ljubljana ZOO thoroughly examined the Lynx. Photo: Maja Sever
Video of the releas of lynx Branko, back to the forests of Jelovica: