Lynx Kras was released in the Plitvice Lakes National Park on March 25, 2023. He arrived from Romania as the 6th and the last lynx that was released in Croatia in the scope of the LIFE Lynx project with a mission to increase the genetic diversity of Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population.
Lynx Kras. Photo: Marko Matešič
After the release, Kras made a short stop at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then returned to Plitvice. In the mid-April he went on a trip to Gorski Kotar, but a month later he came back to Plitvice. When a hot summer hit, he went to Gorski Kotar again, where he is now.
Movements of lynx Kras after the release. Photo: LIFE Lynx
Adult male lynxes live in an area with an average size of 100-300 km2 and don’t share it with other males, but their territory may overlap with the territory of one or more females. In order for Kras to settle in a territory, he must find a habitat of suitable quality that has not been occupied by another male. Based on the movement data from his telemetry collar, we still do not see any indication that he has succeeded in this. Maybe he just can’t decide where nature and females are more beautiful for him, in Gorski Kotar or Plitvice?