Today, Lotta, a female lynx originally from the Oberrabenstein wildlife enclosure, was released into the wild in the Eibenstock/Western Ore Mountains forest district, together with Luca, a male lynx originally from Belgium. As part of the ‘RELynx Sachsen’ project run by the Saxon State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology, both animals are expected to establish themselves in the wild there and, ideally, reproduce.
Lotta, the female lynx who is around one year old, was bred at the Oberrabenstein wildlife enclosure at Chemnitz Zoo. The breeding pair there have successfully produced offspring for the fourth time this year. Luca, a male lynx of the same age, comes from the “Domaine Des Grotte-de-Han” wildlife park in Belgium. The two zoological institutions are thus making a valuable contribution to the conservation of this species.
Both animals moved to the coordination enclosure in the Hütscheroda Wildcat Village back in the spring. There, they were prepared for release into the wild, largely away from human contact. Both Lotta and Luca passed all the necessary behavioural and health tests.
Today was the big day: after the two transport crates, lined with straw, were carefully opened, the lynx set off within a few minutes of one another into their new, densely wooded habitat in the Eibenstock Forest.
With every additional lynx released into the wild, the local population grows. At the same time, the newly released animals introduce new genes. In doing so, they make an important contribution to enriching the gene pool of Saxony’s lynx population and making it more resilient in the long term. The aim is to establish a so-called ‘stepping-stone population’ in the Ore Mountains in order to improve the connectivity of lynx populations in the long term.
The combination of natural reproduction and targeted reintroductions creates favourable conditions for the lynx to become further established in the Ore Mountains.
Background:
With Lotta and Luca, a total of nine animals have now been released into the wild as part of the ‘RELynx Saxony’ project in the Eibenstock forest district since 2024.
The animals selected for release come from the European Conservation Breeding Programme for the Carpathian lynx. The distribution of suitable offspring is coordinated via the Linking Lynx expert network. The aim of Linking Lynx is to connect populations and establish a viable lynx metapopulation. This is intended to extend from the Carpathians through the German low mountain ranges to the Jura and the Western Alps.
See the press release from the Saxony State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology
https://www.medienservice.sachsen.de/medien/news/1099390
English
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