Project Update

Thuringia, 19 October 2025:

The images were taken on 29 July this year and have now been discovered during the evaluation of the camera data. The project team suspects that the lynx is the mother of last year's cubs. The female lynx probably migrated from northern Bavaria, where a small lynx population has developed in recent years thanks to successful population support by the Bavarian authorities.

The father of the young lynxes could be a lynx released into the wild as part of the «Lynx Thuringia» project: Viorel, a male lynx from the Romanian Carpathians, established his territory in the Sachsenbrunn area shortly after his release, as evidenced by data from his GPS collar. During the coming winter months, the project team will attempt to determine the fatherhood beyond doubt by examining genetic material from faecal samples.

Dr Markus Port, conservation biologist and lynx expert at BUND Thuringia and the University of Göttingen: «The lynx offspring in the Thuringian Forest is an important milestone in our project! By investigating paternity, we want to find out which lynxes are reproducing and thus contributing to the newly emerging lynx population. This helps us to keep an eye on the genetic diversity of the population right from the start.»

Viorel is one of six lynxes that have been released into the wild since 2024 as part of the «Lynx Thuringia» project. The project is initiated and coordinated by BUND Thuringia, which is working with WWF Germany, ThüringenForst, the Thuringian Hunting Association and other partners to support the return of lynxes to the region. The Thuringian Forest Nature Park is also involved.

Ralf Kirchner, Deputy Managing Director of the Thuringian Forest Nature Park: «As a project partner, the Thuringian Forest Nature Park supports the reintroduction of lynxes, among other things, with camera trap monitoring. We are therefore all the more delighted that a camera we maintain has now once again detected lynx offspring in the Thuringian Forest. We very much hope that the young lynxes will be followed by further offspring.»

More lynxes are to be introduced to the Thuringian Forest next year. The aim of the «Lynx Thuringia» project is to establish a stable population of lynxes in central Germany, which will serve as a link between the previously isolated populations in the Harz Mountains and the Bavarian Forest. This will strengthen the genetic diversity of the lynxes and ensure the long-term survival of the species in Germany.

Background
«Lynx Thuringia – Connecting Europe's Lynx» is a joint project of BUND, WWF, ThüringenForst, the Wildcat Village Hütscheroda, the Thuringian Hunting Association, the UNESCO Thuringian Forest Biosphere Reserve, the Thuringian Forest Nature Park, the Georg August University of Göttingen and the Romanian project partners ACDB and Romsilva. The project is part of the European lynx expert network Linking Lynx, which is dedicated to the conservation and networking of lynx populations in Central Europe. The aim is to establish a stable and independent lynx population in Central Europe through targeted reintroductions and the networking of existing populations. Many of the lynxes released into the Thuringian Forest originate from the conservation breeding programme of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

The project is being implemented as part of the «Promotion of Projects for the Development of Nature and Landscape» (ENL) programme and is funded by the Thuringian Ministry of the Environment.