A dead lynx found on the highway near Brno
The Moravian-Slovak lynx population lost the third male this year
30.12.2020, Selmy.cz
A dead lynx was found on Sunday 27 December on the highway near Brno. Employees of the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic recovered the body that was later handed over for further investigation and autopsy to the Faculty of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Brno. This is the third documented dead of a male lynx this year. The first incident was the illegal killing of the lynx called Olda, the second victim was a young male hit by a car in Hostýn Hills. Following the filing of a criminal complaint by the Friends of the Earth Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA), the police are investigating the case on suspicion of unlawful killing of a specially protected animal.
The dead lynx was identified by the staff of Hnutí DUHA Olomouc as an individual originally from the Moravian-Slovak border where the long-term photo monitoring of large carnivores is taking place. The markings unique to the animal were identified in several pictures. The young lynx was first captured by the camera trap on 25 August 2020 in the White Carpathians above the village of Nedašov. Later, the lynx was recorded twice by camera traps at different locations along the ridge of the Vsetín Beskydy. Based on the documented information on the animal's movements, it would seem that the young lynx travelled to the place at least 130 kilometres as the crow flies before being hit by a car. Along the way, it had to cross many roads, railways and densely populated areas. Sadly, its journey ended on the highway near Brno.
European research studies show: Young male lynx can travel long distances
Such dispersal from the population core area would not be an isolated case. Young animals, after separating from their mother, can travel long distances in search of new territory. An example of a successful transition through the Moravian Gate was the lynx Kryštof who spent two years in the Moravian Karst. The air distance between the birthplace of the lynx Kryštof and his new territory was approximately 122 kilometres. Another recent case of a lynx hit by a car near Chvalčov in Hostýn Hills documents the ability of young individuals to disperse over long distances. This animal was also born in the central part of the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy. European research studies provide further evidence of young lynx males' dispersal abilities. For example, in the Baltics, zoologists have recorded a maximum dispersal distance of 124 kilometres, in Switzerland, it was 129 kilometres and in Scandinavia, the maximum dispersal distance reached 428 kilometres.
The survival of the lynx in Central Europe depends on the interconnection of isolated populations
According to experts, the long-term survival of the lynx in Central Europe depends on the ability of young individuals to move between the existing isolated populations, for example, the one in the Bohemian Forest. However, the dispersing animals often die under the wheels of vehicles or disappear without a trace. The fate of the recently found lynx and other animals (e.g., the male hit by a car near Chvalčov or the disappeared lynx Kryštof) highlights the need to reduce the negative impact of high landscape fragmentation and to consistently combat poaching.
Friends of the Earth Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA Olomouc) together with other partners work towards better protection of migration corridors within the transnational project SaveGREEN.
The SaveGREEN project focuses on safeguarding the functionality of important ecological corridors. At present, migration corridors are threatened by inadequately planned economic development in many areas of the Carpathians and the Danube region. Therefore, the SaveGREEN project aims to promote the best solution for the protection of ecological corridors in 8 pilot areas, including the Beskydy-Kysuce area on the Czech-Slovak border. The project is co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF). More information available on the website www.interreg-danube.eu/SaveGREEN or in Czech at www.selmy.cz.
SaveGREEN
www.interreg-danube.eu/SaveGREEN | Project co-funded by the European Union funds (ERDF)
Authors:
Martin Duľa, large carnivore expert of Friends of the Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA Olomouc) and senior researcher at the Institute of Forest Ecology, Mendel University in Brno, martin.dula@mendelu.cz; 770 137 635
Miroslav Kutal, the main coordinator of the large carnivore programme at Friends of the Czech Republic (Hnutí DUHA) and senior researcher at the Institute of Forest Ecology, Mendel University in Brno, miroslav.kutal@hnutiduha.cz; 728 832 889
Michal Bojda, coordinator of the large carnivore monitoring programme in the Beskydy Mountains, michal.bojda@hnutiduha.cz; 734 233 993
The lynx was captured by the camera trap in the Vsetín Beskydy. Source: Hnutí DUHA Olomouc
