Our photo traps set across Mala Gora hills have photographed lynx Teja with her new offspring. This year she has not one, but two kittens. We do not yet have genetic evidence of the fatherhood, but based on the movement data of Teja and translocated lynx Goru in the mating season it is highly likely that Goru is the father also of this year’s litter.
Goru and Teja share their territories for the second year. Their movement data from this year shows that both lynxes spent quite some time together during the mating season and that they also mated this year. In April, our photo traps took footage of Teja, and confirmed that she is pregnant. At this time Mala, Teja’s last year’s kitten, was still with her mother, but soon after that she stopped following her, and dispersed north, which indicated that Teja has newborn kittens. It was only in autumn, when our photo traps caught Teja again. And this time she was not alone. Two healthy kittens accompanied her.
First we photographed Teja (right), a minute after her, the kittens (middle) and after half an hour later Goru (left) came in the same direction. Photo: Jože Kos, LD Velike Poljane
It seems that Goru is very successful in passing on his genes to the next generations. This is excellent news for the genetic reinforcement of the Dinaric lynx population in Slovenia and Croatia, which is one of the primary goals of the LIFE lynx project. It encourages us we are on good track with our project activities and that long-term survival of Slovenian and Croatian lynxes will be ensured.
See the video about Teja’s new kittens and stay tuned for further news about the offspring.