Biotechnical Faculty joined forces with Slovenia Forest Service, The Triglav National Park, ZOO Ljubljana and selected hunting clubs in the Gorenjska region. This year, we have fitted two lynxes with telemetry collars; in January, in the Bohinjska Bistrica area, we captured an adult lynx, Andrej, who was already wearing a telemetry collar as a cub, so we replaced it with a new one. Andrej is the offspring of the translocated lynxes Julia and Tris, from the 2022 litter. He was in excellent physical condition at the time of capture; weighing 23.1 kg, which is 7 kg more than when he was first captured as an adolescent lynx.

Lynx Andrej, photographed in the area of Mežakla in 2023. Photo: LIFE Lynx

A month later, another adult lynx, which we already knew from monitoring with camera traps, was caught on the Jelovica plateau. The healthy male lynx is 2-3 years old and weighed 22.5 kg at the time of capture. Local hunters named him Branko, after the hunter who helped set the trap in which the lynx was captured. Branko shares a territory with a female lynx, Talia, who established her territory in Slovenia in 2023 and had two pups the following year. It is currently the mating season for lynx, so in addition to monitoring the predation of lynxes within the Extreme Predator project, it will also be interesting to monitor their mating movements, as the males often go on mating excursions outside their territories.

Lynx Branko, photographed in the area of Jelovica. Photo: Lan Hočevar, Biotehniška Fakulteta

Experienced veterinaries from Ljubljana ZOO thoroughly examined the Lynx. Photo: Maja Sever

Video of the releas of lynx Branko, back to the forests of Jelovica:

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The post Lynx Monitoring in the Alps; Extreme Predator Project appeared first on Life lynx.

Sneška with her first two kittens, since she was translocated to Slovenian Dinaric Mountains.

If we take a closer look, we can see that kittens are quite different; one is wearing spots but the other also has some rosettes. Although we have not genetically confirmed the fatherhood of these kittens, it is highly likely that Catalin is their father, since he spent considerable time with Sneška during the mating season.

One kitten (left) has a prominent spotted coat pattern, while the other one also has some rosettes (right).

Sneška was the last lynx translocated in the scope of the LIFE Lynx project, released in the forests of Snežnik in April 2023.  She was the only female lynx translocated and released in the Dinaric part of the Dinaric –SE Alpine lynx population. About two months after her release, she headed north and later on established her territory in Rakitna, between Iški Vintgar gorge and Borovnica, where she is still present to this day.

Movements of lynx Sneška since her release in Snežnik area in 2023 (star).  After exploring the area of around Loški potok and Ribnica, she established her territory in the area of Rakitna, Iški vintgar and Borovnica, where she is now raising her two kittens.

The post VIDEO – Next generation of lynxes from Slovenian Dinaric Mountains first appeared on Life lynx.

The post VIDEO – Next generation of lynxes from Slovenian Dinaric Mountains appeared first on Life lynx.

Territories of young male lynx Miha and female lynx Rozi. Photo: Teresa Oliveira

Miha met with Rozi and the cub at the prey remains, which is extremely rare for lynx, which are otherwise solitary animals. As the lynxes were extremely friendly with each other, we suspect that this was a family reunion, but we still need to confirm the paternity of the cub with genetic analyses. Rosie’s cub confirms the success of the lynx introduction in the Alps, and represents the third recorded reproduction of lynx in the Alps in 2024. Two cubs were born to Talia, and one to Julia.

In October, a Triglav National Park ranger photographed lynx Julija with one kitten. Photo: Florijan Tišer

The post A new generation of lynx in the Slovenian Alps first appeared on Life lynx.

The post A new generation of lynx in the Slovenian Alps appeared first on Life lynx.

According to telemetry data, Sneška and Catalin med several times during the mating season and after, suggesting Catalin is likely the father of the kittens. This discovery marks an important milestone for the LIFE Lynx project, highlighting the successful integration and reproduction of the only female lynx translocated in Dinaric forests.

Sneška with her two kittens. Photo: Lan Hočevar, LIFE Lynx

Lynx Catalin marking the rock, where Sneška and her two kittens were filmed three weeks before. Photo: Lan Hočevar, LIFE Lynx

The post Sneška has two kittens! first appeared on Life lynx.

The post Sneška has two kittens! appeared first on Life lynx.