Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) Classification

Public perception of large carnivores is heterogeneous and contrasting attitudes of various stakeholder groups may create barriers to effective management. The most prominent disparities occur between hunters and conservationists. While dissatisfaction among hunters may lead to increased instances of illegal killing as a form of protest, conservationists' disapproval can impact public opinion, potentially eroding trust in management policy.

We conducted a survey across Slovakia (n = 1071) to understand how different stakeholders perceive current management of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and to identify key commonalities and potential conflicts of interests.

We found broad consensus among stakeholders regarding high intrinsic value of lynx in Slovak nature and low potential for conflict regarding livestock damages caused by lynx. Majority of respondents, including hunters (63%), foresters (63%), and farmers (62%), supported the legal protection of lynx in Slovakia. Our study also demonstrates widespread support of the Slovak public (75%–88%) for reintroduction programs using Slovak lynx population as a resource. However, the majority of respondents (65%–75%) supported using primarily orphans and rehabilitated lynx for these programs.

The greatest polarization between hunters and conservationists was observed in issues related to lynx population status and lynx having an impact on roe deer population. Approximately half of hunters believed lynx population over the past 20 years increased and that lynx poses a threat to the roe deer population, with over a third advocating for legal lynx hunting. These attitudes likely lead to the relatively widespread illegal killing on over ~50% of the lynx distribution range in Slovakia.

Our data suggest that increasing public awareness of lynx, implementing adaptive science‐based management, and involving hunters in citizen science and management decisions might be the most effective way to develop policies balancing conservation goals with the socio‐cultural context of human‐large carnivore coexistence.

Smolko, Peter & Kubala, Jakub & Klinga, Peter & Lebocký, Tibor & Kropil, Rudolf & Zbranek, Ján & Iľko, Tomáš & Tám, Branislav & Svitok, Marek. (2025). (PDF) From conflict to conservation: Understanding public attitudes of hunters and conservationists toward Carpathian lynx (Lynx lynx carpathicus) in Slovakia. Conservation Science and Practice. 10.1111/csp2.70072.

Rehabilitation of injured or immature individuals has become an increasingly used conservation and management tool. However, scientific evaluation of rehabilitations is rare, raising concern about post-release welfare as well as the cost-effectiveness of spending scarce financial resources.

Over the past 20 years, events of juvenile Eurasian lynx presumably orphaned have been observed in many European lynx populations. To guide the management of orphaned lynx, we documented survival, rehabilitation and fate after the release and evaluated the potential relevance of lynx orphan rehabilitation for population management and conservation implications.

Data on 320 orphaned lynx was collected from 1975 to 2022 from 13 countries and nine populations. The majority of orphaned lynx (55%) were taken to rehabilitation centres or other enclosures. A total of 66 orphans were released back to nature. The portion of rehabilitated lynx who survived at least one year after release was 0.66. Release location was the best predictor for their survival. Of the 66 released lynx, ten have reproduced at least once (8 females and 2 males).

Conservation implications of rehabilitation programmes include managing genetic diversity in small, isolated populations and reintroducing species to historical habitats. The lynx is a perfect model species as most reintroduced populations in Central Europe show significantly lower observed heterozygosity than most of the autochthonous populations, indicating that reintroduction bottlenecks, isolation and post-release management have long-term consequences on the genetic composition of populations.

The release of translocated orphans could be a valuable contribution to Eurasian lynx conservation in Europe. It is recommended to release orphans at the distribution edge or in the frame of reintroduction projects instead of a release in the core area of a population where it is not necessary from a demographic and genetic point of view. Rehabilitation programmes can have conservation implications that extend far beyond individual welfare benefits.

Molinari-Jobin, Anja & Zimmermann, Fridolin & Borel, Stéphanie & Grand, Luc & Iannino, Elena & Anders, Ole & Bufka, Luděk & Ćirović, Duško & Drouet-Hoguet, Nolwenn & Engleder, Thomas & Figura, Michał & Fuxjäger, Christian & Gregorova, Eva & Heurich, Marco & Idelberger, Sylvia & Kubala, Jakub & Kusak, Josip & Melovski, Dime & Vogt, Kristina. (2024). Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation. PLOS ONE. 19. e0297789. 10.1371/journal.pone.0297789.

The dynamic interactions between predators and their prey have two fundamental processes: numerical and functional responses. Numerical response is defined as predator growth rate as a function of prey density or both prey and predator densities [dP/dt=f(N, P)]. Functional response is defined as the kill rate by an individual predator being a function of prey density or prey and predator densities combined. Although there are relatively many studies on the functional response in mammalian predators, the numerical response remains poorly documented.

We studied the numerical response of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) to various densities of its primary prey species, roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and to itself (lynx). We exploited an unusual natural situation, spanning three decades where lynx, after a period of absence in central and southern Sweden, during which roe deer populations had grown to high densities, subsequently recolonized region after region, from north to south.

We divided the study area into seven regions, with increasing productivity from north to south. We found strong effects of both roe deer density and lynx density on lynx numerical response. Thus, both resources and intraspecific competition for these resources are important to understanding the lynx population dynamic.

We built a series of deterministic lynx-roe deer models, and applied them to the seven regions. We found a very good fit between these Lotka-Volterra type models and the data. The deterministic models produced almost cyclic dynamics or dampened cycles in five of the seven regions. Thus, we documented population cycles in this large predator-large herbivore system, which is rarely done. The amplitudes in the dampened cycles decreased toward the south. Thus, the dynamics between lynx and roe deer became more stable with increasing carrying capacity for roe deer, which is related to higher productivity in the environment.

This increased stability could be explained by variation in predation risk, where human presence can act as prey refugia, and by a more diverse prey guild that will weaken the direct interaction between lynx and roe deer.

Andrén, H.; Liberg, O.
Numerical response of predator to prey: Dynamic interactions and population cycles in Eurasian lynx and roe deer
2023 Ecological Monographs (94): e1594

After having been extinct for approximately 200 years, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is currently being reintroduced in several European countries. However, it still occurs in several local, isolated populations. Given the patchy distribution of its forest habitat within a human-dominated landscape, the formation of population stepping-stones, i.e., small lynx occurrences between source populations, has been suggested an important mechanism for the expansion of lynx in central Europe.

We studied the population history of such a stepping-stone population, which emerged approximately 60 km southwest of a larger reintroduced population in central Germany. We also examined migrations of lynx between the source population and the stepping-stone.

At the beginning of our study in autumn 2014, our study population consisted of a minimum number of six resident individuals of both sexes that successfully reproduced in the area. However, over the course of only a single year, this subpopulation declined to only a single resident male as a consequence of death and emigration. In the 4 years after this decline, the subpopulation did not recover due to the absence of female dispersal into the area.

Our study illustrates the vulnerability of small, isolated populations to stochastic demographic events and suggests that constraints on female dispersal are a major reason for the slow expansion of lynx in central Europe. To promote the expansion of lynx, active population management will be required, involving the translocation of females to reinforce existing stepping-stone populations or to create new ones.

Port, M.; Henkelmann, A.; Schröder, F.; Waltert, M.; Middelhoff, L.; Anders, O.; Jokisch, S.
Rise and fall of a Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) stepping-stone population in central Germany
2021 Mammal Research (66): 45-55

The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is a large, but shy species of cat that depends on woodland habitat. Approximately 65cm tall and weighing between 12-35 kg, lynx became extinct in the UK during the late medieval period.

The potential reintroduction of lynx to Scotland has been the focus of significant recent debate, but any decision to proceed would need to be supported by comprehensive and favourable public consultations and robust scientific evidence.

Recent modelling work delivers up to date and reliable evidence that Scotland possesses sufficient, well-connected habitat in the Highlands to give a reintroduced population of lynx a good chance of success. However, this success is heavily dependent on the careful selection of appropriate reintroduction site(s).

This briefing paper summarises research that has developed a quick, safe and cost effective tool to explore the suitability of different candidate sites around Scotland for the reintroduction of lynx. Equally, this new approach can be applied to conservation management and reintroduction planning for both lynx and other species.

Ovenden, T.S.; Palmer, S.C.F.; Travis, J.M.J.; Healey, J.R.
The potential for lynx reintroduction to Scotland: Innovative modelling provides robust scientific evidence to inform decision making
2019 Biological Conservation (234): 140-153

The populations of Eurasian lynx in Anatolia are as fragmented as the European populations. Although the origins of and the connections between the European lynx populations have been elucidated, there have been no genetic studies on the lynx populations in Turkey. The lack of genetic and evolutionary information about lynx in Anatolia, which is considered to be a biodiversity hotspot, makes it difficult to track the migration routes during the Quaternary.

In this study, we present the genetic characteristics of two isolated lynx populations in Southwest Taurus Mountains and the Turkish Caucasus as well as two individuals from Erzincan area. DNA purified from the ecological scat samples collected from Çiglikara Nature Reserve in Elmalì-Antalya and Allahuekber Mountains in Sarikamis-Kars, as well as two roadkill samples from Erzincan, has been analysed for phylogenetic markers such as the mitochondrial DNA control region and cytochrome b. The DNA sequences were compared with haplotypes previously detected in populations from Europe and the Caucasus in order to determine the evolutionary relationships of the populations.

This study compares the current genetic structure of some of the Turkish lynx populations to the other lynx genetic data, mostly carried out with museum samples around the world. Three haplotypes were found in three different regions of Anatolia. The Northeast and Southwest populations harbour genetically distinct haplotypes, the latter one, a new haplotype: H13-TR is the only phylogenetic connection to the critically endangered Balkan lynx yet to be described.

Coemert, N.; Carli, O.; Dinçtürk, H.B.
The missing lynx of Eurasia at its Southern edge: a connection to the critically endangered Balkan lynx
2018 Mitochondrial DNA Part A (29): 1269-1275