Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) Classification

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