Lynx without ears: Genetic impoverishment in the Jura

Inbreeding threatens the lynx in the Jura

Inbreeding threatens the future of the predator in the Jura mountains, as it lives in isolation without contact with the populations inhabiting the Alps and pre-Alps.

It would be urgently necessary for fresh blood to strengthen the vitality of the Jura lynx, which is showing serious signs of weakness (heart murmurs, low birth weight, drastic decline in fertility), writes photographer Alain Prêtre.

It should be recalled that the Jura lynx population originated from the reintroduction of ten Carpathian lynxes in the Neuchâtel Jura in 1970.

300 lynxes in Switzerland

According to the latest estimates from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), around 300 lynxes live in Switzerland. Of these, around 200 live in the pre-Alps and Alps, and around 100 in the Jura forests. Several lynxes have also recently been spotted in the Mittelland. The lynx population in Switzerland is thus the largest in the Alpine region.

In order to support the establishment of new populations in neighbouring countries and promote connectivity, Switzerland participates in reintroduction projects abroad, such as in Italy, Austria, and most recently in Germany. To this end, lynxes were captured in Switzerland and relocated, where they are then mostly shot by hobby hunters.

Poaching and traffic accidents as additional threats

The weakening of the gene pool of the Jura lynx is far from the only factor endangering the future of the lynx. Traffic accidents and poaching by hobby hunters also pose a real threat to the survival of the Jura lynx population.

And despite the obvious decline of the lynx in the Jura, the hobby hunting associations of the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel and Franche-Comté still dare to clamour for regulation of the lynx.