In mid-March, we reported that a young male lynx named Miha was captured and equipped with the telemetry collar on the Jelovica plateau. Soon after his release back into the forests, we noticed that he was meeting with a female lynx Talia, who was translocated and released near Tarvisio in the scope of the ULyCA2 project. After her release in Italy, Talia established her territory in Slovenia on Jelovica plateau. Since it was still time of the lynx mating season, we were delighted to discover that at the end of May, lynx Talia gave birth to two lynx kittens. For now, we cannot confirm that lynx Miha is the father of these kittens, however the date of their encounter fits perfectly with the time of the births of these two kittens.
Two new lynx kittens from Slovenian Alps. Photo: Rok Černe
Encounters between Talia and Miha were recorded via telemetry. Photo: Lan Hočevar
After potential mating with Talia, lynx Miha moved away from Jelovica, towards Posočje region, where he stayed for the most of the time since his monitoring with telemetry. It is still too early to estimate his home range size, so hopefully telemetry will enable us to do this in the near future.
Movements of lynx Miha after he was fitted with a telemetry collar. Photo: Lan Hočevar