In mid-March 2023, the Slovak team of the LIFE Lynx project from the Technical University in Zvolen in cooperation with partners from the Betliar Forest district (Rožňava Forest enterprise, LESY SR), the Bojnice National Zoo and the Slovak Karst National Park administration managed to capture an adult female lynx (around 5 years old). This animal was the last captured lynx in Slovakia for the translocation and rescue of the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population in the scope of the LIFE Lynx project. The female was placed in quarantine enclosure at the Bojnice National Zoo, from where it will be translocated and released in the Dinaric Mountains in Slovenia.
Tranquilization of the female at the capture site. Photo: Attila Ambrúš
From the video recordings obtained near the trapping box, it was very interesting to compare the different approaches of both sexes to the presence of the trapping device. The female shows a significantly higher level of caution, which in consequence complicates their captures.
Jakub Kubala, from TUZV: “It was a very interesting story and journey for us, for which we thank the entire LIFE Lynx team, as well as all partners, colleagues and friends. It was an honour for us to continue the story of our ancestors and help the lynx conservation both on a national and European level.”