We are closely monitoring all translocated lynxes with the help of telemetry collars. However, sometimes the equipment does not work as it is supposed to. In December, we noticed, that the batteries of telemetry collars of Tris and Lenka, two lynxes translocated to the Alpine region, are losing power and later on stopped working. The last data we have received from their collars were in the middle of December. Tris and Lenka share a...
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This season, we have extended the monitoring of the impact of lynx population reinforcement in Slovenia to the Slovenian Alps. In the spring, five adult lynxes equipped with telemetry collars were released in the area of Pokljuka and Jelovica. Despite telemetry monitoring, we are regularly monitoring the progress of the reinforcement with camera traps, which are the main tool for lynx monitoring, as they allow long-term monitoring of...
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On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, the LIFE Lynx project team, led by a research team from the Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, University of Ljubljana, and Ljubljana ZOO successfully captured a young lynx in the Goteniška gora area in the Kočevje region. It is one of last year’s four kittens of the female lynx Petra, which we have been monitoring with a telemetry collar since March 2021....
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Inbreeding is the biggest threat to the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population so we monitor the population status also through genetic analyses. Genetic samples of lynx were being collected between May 2020 and April 2021. Altogether 149 genetic samples were collected in Slovenian and Croatian Dinarics and SE Alps (Italy). Most of the samples were hairs, followed by scats and urine. Each sample has a label, from which we get the recorded...
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We have prepared a second report on the surveillance of lynx reinforcements in Slovenia and Croatia. Using different monitoring methods, we recorded 95 adult lynx in the Slovenian and Croatian Dinarides during the 2020/2021 season. Five lynxes have their territories in the Slovenian Alps. With the help of 76 hunters, we monitored lynx over a 4000 km2 area in Slovenia with more than 200 camera traps. We found that 24 adult lynxes were...
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Since 2018, when we set up our first photo traps in Croatia, in the regions of Lika and the northern part of Dalmatia, we have photographed about a hundred different lynx. About 50% of these animals were photographed on both sides of the body, but for the rest, we had only one side of the body so they couldn’t be counted as a whole. This does not mean that all of the hundred lynx are now present in the area, a large part of...
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Collecting lynx non-invasive genetic samples is not an easy task, since lynx are very elusive and usually burry their scats. However, it gets easier when there is snow around and there is plenty these days in Slovenia. LIFE Lynx team members started with their favorite winter activity – lynx snow tracking, and here are some impressions of the first lynx and other wildlife tracks we found in the past few days.
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Finally, after three long months we received data from the collar of lynx Emil! Emil was captured in Slovakia in February this year and was transported to Croatia in May. In cooperation with Nature Park Velebit, we released him on a meadow Apatišan near village Krasno. His movements are monitored with a collar that is using Iridium satellites to locate the animals and send us the data. The collar is programmed to send the data every...
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In the area of newly established stepping-stone population, the Slovenian Alps, we have set up camera traps for lynx monitoring for the first time ever this autumn. With local hunters from five hunting clubs and three districts of state-owned hunting ground which lays within the Triglav National park we set up camera traps at 20 different locations. Choosing suitable locations was a challenge for the experienced personnel as the Alps...
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Niko is the offspring of the second litter of the resident lynx Teja and translocated lynx Goru. In December 2020, we already reported that Niko had left his mother’s home territory and started his journey towards independence. In mid-December 2020, he first moved about 15 km away to the eastern part of the Kočevski Rog. His movement pattern initially indicated that he would settle in this area, but in early April 2021 he moved...
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We began with the fourth season of systematic camera trapping in Slovenia. 51 hunting clubs and 6 state-owned hunting grounds collaborate in this year’s effort for lynx population survey and together with local hunters, we equipped 150 locations with camera traps. Each season represents a new challenge; even though we identified quite some locations where lynx is recorded each season, we still select many new locations for...
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