engleski

Early post-release behaviour of Eurasian lynx translocated to the transboundary region of Dinaric Mountains

Translocations of individuals for reintroductions and population reinforcements have been increasingly used in carnivore conservation. Movement is the first behavioural response of reintroduced animals to ‘forced dispersal’ in a new habitat and our study investigated space use and movement patterns of six male Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) translocated from Carpathian to Dinaric Mountains and released at four different sites in Croatia and Slovenia. Data was collected during their early post-release period (i.e. 3 months after the release) to investigate first behavioural response following the translocation. Released lynx were monitored with GPS-GSM-VHF telemetry collars set to collect GPS locations in intervals between 4h and 24h. All animals settled during the study period, on average 23 days (SD=16.5) after the release. Although it is outside of the monitoring period that was the focus of this study, two lynx left their first territory 102 and 92 days after their release and went in second exploratory movement. The main movement direction of the released animals was to the NW-SE, corresponding to the orientation of the predominant ridgelines of the Dinaric mountain range. Furthermore, by comparing the use and availability of the terrain aspect, we concluded that the lynx chose to move along the mountain range and not perpendicular to the mountain, i.e. they avoided moving uphill and downhill. First kill sites of all animals were detected on average 3.4 days (SD=1.7) after the release. This study brought valuable theoretical and practical knowledge on the early movement behaviour of translocated lynx that should be taken into consideration when planning translocations.

Lynx lynx, reinforcement, exploratory movement, post-release monitoring

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