Translocation

Press Release, Progretto Lince Italia, 28.09.2024:

«With this new female, we will allow the territorial male FLORI to mate with a non-related female, thus increasing the genetic diversity of lynx in the area,» explained ULyCA Project Coordinator Paolo Molinari. In the Italian south-eastern Alps, we are currently monitoring 3 male lynx, but no female.

All lynx currently present in the Italian south-eastern Alps are oƯspring of lynx reintroduced in the frame of LIFE Lynx project. From 2021 to 2023, six lynx had been released in the Slovenian southeastern Alps to create a stepping-stone population able to expand and eventually connect with the Dinaric population. Additionally, five lynx had been released in the Italian south-eastern Alps as part of the ULyCA project. The core area of this newly created steppingstone population lies in the Slovenian Julian Alps. Four out of six released females have successfully reproduced. At least 16 kittens in 7 litters were born.

LUNA is reinforcing the still small lynx occurrence in the south-eastern Alps. She is a young female born in May 2023 in the wildcat village of Hütscheroda in central Germany, where she was specifically prepared to be released into the wild. She can potentially give birth to her first kittens in 2025. Luna is also the 8. lynx released within Linking Lynx, a project that brings together experts from zoos, wildlife parks and reintroduction projects with the common goal to connect the existing lynx populations in Central Europe in such a way that the exchange between the individual populations can take place in the future via natural dispersal: Connecting the isolated lynx populations with each other is extremely important for the longterm survival of the species in Central Europe.

Background

ULyCA is a project of the Carabinieri Forestali, and Progetto Lince Italia of the University of Turin is in charge of the technical and logistic aspects. The support received from WWF Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria is very important, as well as the collaboration of the working group «hunting and lynx» which unites the regional hunting associations, the biodiversity department of Friuli Venezia Giulia and regional veterinary authority (ASUFC). A broad network of collaborations has led to the release of the lynx today: the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and the Deutscher Wildgehegeverband are collaborating with the reintroduction and release projects within the Linking Lynx network and LUNA has been sourced as part of this common endeavour to conserve the Carpathian lynx metapopulation.