On Friday, November 16th 2018, the National Zoological Garden Bojnice hosted an international conference „Path of the Slovak lynx“. Representatives of governmental and non-governmental institutions participated at the event. Jakub Kubala and Branislav Tám from ZOO Bojnice presented information on the current state of the lynx population in the Slovak Carpathians, international conservation and management of the lynx. Furthermore, results from the lynx reintroduction in the Palatinate forest, Germany (LIFE LUCHS) and the lynx reinforcement project in the Dinaric Mts. and SE Alps (LIFE Lynx) were presented by Jochen Krebuehl and Rok Černe.
For acknowledging the long term contribution in the lynx conservation and management in Europe, Mr. Boris Suska, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic, presented awards to Eva Gregorová, Ľudvik Kunc and Štefan Zatroch. All three awarded represented a major part of the Slovak lynx path. Štefan Zátroch was the most successful lynx trapper. He captured 47 lynx for different reintroduction programs in Europe.
Rok Černe, LIFE Lynx project manager, also participated at the conference. Photo: LIFE Lynx
The highlight of the conference was Slovak premiere of the LIFE Lynx project movie “Path of the Lynx”. This documentary movie presents the lynx reintroduction in Northern Dinarids (Slovenia) in the 70s. Memoirs of direct participants from all included countries (Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia) portrayed the difficult situations and successes within the lynx reintroduction programs.
Participants at the conference »Path of the Slovak lynx«. Photo: LIFE Lynx
Štefan Zatroch (middle). Photo: LIFE Lynx