2023-06-12 11:56:00
Five lynxes are still living in the Kalkalpen National Park, says Managing Director Josef Forstinger. Only Norik, who comes from Rhineland-Palatinate and was released in the national park in December of the previous year, can probably father offspring at the moment.
However, the experts suspect that this male has not yet come into contact with a female. Norik is the only lynx in the national park that still has a collar with an active GPS transmitter that can be used to record the movement patterns of the animals. With the other lynxes, the battery of the device ran out following two years. Even if you can no longer locate the other four lynxes, they still keep their usual paths. If there are still offspring in the national park, then they should be born soon, says Forstinger.
Actually, six lynx should populate the national park. But there has been no photo evidence of the lynx lady Aira since late autumn 2022. Animal rights activists are certain that more than ten lynx would be required to ensure a thriving population.
But such a large population would not be realistic, emphasizes the national park director. “A lynx has a territory of 100 square kilometers, we have 200 square kilometers.” Releasing 20 or even more lynxes here would mean “that they would not stay in the park.” Outside the national park borders, however, contact with the hunters is not the same well developed, says Forstinger. In the LUKA (Luchs Kalkalen) working group, agreement with the hunters is “very good.” There they agree that there should be at least six lynx specimens in the national park.
There are two periods when you can release a new lynx: in spring and in late autumn. “Unfortunately, we missed getting an animal for spring,” says the head of the national park.
Poaching is always an issue, says Forstinger. A complaint was recently filed because illegally killed game was found in the area of the Hengstpass. But that the strictly protected lynxes are being specifically hunted down, “we don’t feel that anymore.”
Author
Robert Stammler
Editor Country and People
Robert Stammler
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