Palatinate Forest Imports Swiss Lynxes for Reintroduction

By the end of 2020, a total of 20 animals are to be released in the Palatinate Forest Biosphere Reserve to establish a new lynx population.

Ten of them come from Switzerland. The other ten are being relocated to Germany from Slovakia. The Palatinate Forest is located in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate and is one of the largest contiguous forested areas in Germany.

The reintroduction began with the release of three lynxes from the Slovak Carpathians. In 2017, a further six lynxes were released in the Palatinate Forest. Arcos, a lynx originally from Switzerland, embarked on a journey immediately after his release that took him all the way to the Southern Vosges. In 2018, four more lynxes from Switzerland and Slovakia joined the young population. This year, three more lynxes from Switzerland — Gaupa, Libre, and Mala — were brought to Germany.

Mala

Mala was the first to be relocated in 2019. She is the seventh lynx from Switzerland to be released in the Palatinate Forest.

Gaupa

The female lynx Gaupa (Icelandic for lynx) was captured by the wildlife warden team of the canton of St. Gallen. Gaupa weighed 18 kg at the time of capture. She was first recorded by camera trap in 2013, making her at least five years old. Like all lynxes, she has an individual spot pattern, which allowed her to be identified by the Kora team.

In Switzerland, Kora, the Coordination Centre for Carnivore Ecology, is responsible for capturing lynxes for relocation on behalf of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). Initially, there was only a single team in Switzerland that captured lynxes for relocations. «This often led to long waiting times»says Urs Büchler, a wildlife warden from the Obertoggenburg region. The Office for Nature, Hunting and Fisheries obtained approval for its own capture team. Wildlife wardens and veterinarians underwent special training for this purpose.

Gaupa is the ninth female in the project. The goal is to relocate a total of 20 lynxes so that a viable lynx population can establish itself and connect with neighboring populations. The animals must not be related to lynxes that have already been relocated.

Libre

Libre is the 16th lynx to be relocated to the Palatinate Forest. The trapping season in the donor countries Switzerland and Slovakia falls during the lynx mating season (rut). During this period, females are not accompanied by young, and lynxes are particularly active in search of a suitable mate. The chances of catching a lynx during this time are therefore higher.

Lynxes are solitary animals and spend only a few days with their mating partner before going their separate ways again. Lynxes generally do not share their territories with same-sex conspecifics. However, the larger territories of male lynxes often overlap with one to three home ranges of female lynxes.

There are four species of lynx: the Canadian lynx, the Eurasian lynx, the bobcat, and the Iberian lynx. Lynxes are therefore found in Europe, Asia, and North America. Lynxes live in forested areas and have adapted very well to cold temperatures.