A new lynx arrived from Romania to Slovenia today. He is a young male, a “teenager”. Who could be better suited to naming this lynx, if not the children and teenagers who live in the area where the lynx will be released? The project team asked school children from Sodražica to give their suggestions for the name.
At the end of the winter we created a programme »Young Guardians of Lynx« for Sodražica Primary School together with Mojca Vesel, a biology teacher. As one of the programme’s intentions is to involve school children in local project activities as much as possible, she has been collecting name suggestions from 6th to 9th-grade pupils for the lynx, coming to the quarantine closure in Loški Potok.
The names collected were evaluated by a committee consisting of the project team member, biologist Manca Velkavrh, teacher Mojca Vesel, head of the Loški Potok hunting family Stanko Anzeljc and our project celebrity ambassador – Peter Prevc. Part of the scoring was objective, as the names associated with lynxes or cats, forest or local and historical features were given extra points. A limited number of additional points were awarded by each member of the committee.
The students suggested 58 names, of which 52 were eligible for a higher score (associated with lynx, local features, etc.). We have to say we would be happy to use most of the suggested names, but we could only choose one.
The name that received the most points is “Boris” – like a puzzle of two words, that in Slovenian language mean “pine” (tree) and “lynx”.
Lynx Boris. Photo: Andrea Gazzola, LIFE Lynx
We are very pleased with the big response by the Sodražica Primary School pupils, and we thank the members of the commission for their contributions.
Mojca adds: “Me and of course everyone at the Primary school dr. Ivana Prijatelja are proud of this opportunity to participate in the name selection. The students were happy to submit and make suggestions. That is why we will continue to follow with enthusiasm when the lynx will arrive in the closure in Loški Potok, when he will be released, where he will go and when he will find a female lynx. We will be happy to follow the published photos and current news about the lynx, including those about our Boris.”
The pupils also drew some pictures to welcome the young lynx. We want our lynx population to be as diverse as their pictures!
Boris will stay in the quarantine enclosure for a few weeks and will be released into nature by the end of May.
Boris, welcome!