Balkan Lynx

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Balkan Lynx
A Balkan lynx on a North Macedonian postage stamp (Lynx lynx martinoi is a synonym of Lynx lynx balcanicus)

A Balkan lynx on a North Macedonian postage stamp ( Lynx lynx martinoi is a synonym of Lynx lynx balcanicus )

Systematics
Subordination : Feline (Feliformia)
Family : Cats (Felidae)
Subfamily : Small cats (Felinae)
Genre : Lynx ( Lynx )
Type : Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx )
Subspecies : Balkan Lynx
Scientific name
Lynx lynx balcanicus
Buresch , 1941

The Balkan lynx ( Lynx lynx balcanicus ) is a subspecies of the Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ). It occurs in remote mountain regions in the north and east of Albania , in the northwest of North Macedonia and in the adjacent areas of Kosovo and Montenegro . In North Macedonia, the lynx, the largest cat in the Balkans , is the national animal that is also depicted on the 5 denarius coin . Little is known about the shy and very rare animal.

features

The Balkan lynx does not differ much from other subspecies of the European lynx. According to Mirić, it differs from the other subspecies mainly in its smaller size and a higher proportion of animals without black spots in their fur.

The animals weigh 18 to 25 kilograms, 80 to 130 centimeters long and 60 to 75 centimeters high. The heaviest captured male weighed 27 kilograms.

Way of life

Not much is known about the way of life of the Balkan lynx. It probably does not differ fundamentally from that of the European lynx ( Lynx lynx lynx ) in Western and Northern Europe or the Carpathian lynx ( L. l. Carpathica ), which is separated from the range of the Balkan lynx in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania , Slovakia , Poland and the Czech Republic lives through the Danube .

The mating season is probably - earlier than with other subspecies of the lynx - in the months of January to February.

After the brown bear and the wolf, the Balkan lynx is the region's third largest predator . Its diet consists mainly of deer and rarely also of chamois and rabbits , and when there is a shortage of food also rodents and birds.

Both males and females have large territories of over 100 square kilometers. They hike up to 45 kilometers per night.

distribution

Balkan Lynx (Albania)
Mavrovo National Park
Mavrovo National Park
Pelister
Pelister
Jasen
Jasen
Karaorman
Karaorman
Galičica
Galičica
Prokletije (Nikaj-Mërtur)
Prokletije (Nikaj-Mërtur)
Shebenik-Jablanica
Shebenik-Jablanica
Munella
Munella
Stravaj
Stravaj
Šar
Šar
Bjeshket e Namuna
Bjeshket e Namuna
Greece
Kosovo
North
Macedonia
Monte
negro
Albania
Italy
Adriatic
Distribution Balkan lynx
(red: proven reproduction)

The Balkan lynx prefers remote, wooded mountain regions of the Western Balkans .

Founded in 1949, Mavrovo National Park in Northwest Macedonia is 731 square kilometers and is home to the largest population. Lynx have also been detected in other regions of North Macedonia, for example on Karaorman Mountain to the south of the National Park, in the Galičica National Park , in the Pelister National Park against Greece and occasionally in the Jasen Nature Reserve near Skopje .

The population in Albania is estimated at ten animals. A reproductive group of four to five lynx lives in the Munella Mountains (northern Mirdita ). Lynx have also been spotted in eastern Albania in the Shebenik-Jablanica National Park and in the Stravaj nature reserve further south, where a young animal could also be detected in 2020. Lynx have also been spotted in Prokletije , particularly in the Nikaj-Mërtur Regional Nature Park . In the Korab Mountains on Dešat Mountain, lynxes from North Macedonia occasionally migrate across the border to Albania.

In Kosovo, the Balkan lynx has also been regularly detected in the Prokletije since 2015. In 2020 a lynx was sighted for the first time in the Šar Planina .

Not much research has been done in Montenegro. Scientists consider a regular occurrence unlikely, while other sources report occasional lynx sightings. There are also rare records of lynx in Greece.

A reproduction has so far only been proven in the Mavrovo National Park, in the Munella Mountains and most recently in the Polis Mountains (Stravaj region).

Up until the beginning of the 19th century, lynxes were common all over the Balkan Peninsula . The eradication began - later than in Western Europe - only in the 18th century, in other areas where it is still widespread today, even not until the beginning of the 20th century. It is believed that by the late 1930s there were only a maximum of 20 individuals left. In the mid-1970s, the population is said to have recovered to between 280 and 400 individuals. But a rapid decline set in as early as the 1980s. Areas in the north of the Balkans ( Serbia , Bosnia and Herzegovina ) have been repopulated by other subspecies of lynx.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Balkan lynx was scientifically described for the first time in 1941 by the Bulgarian zoologist Iwan Buresch . Terra typica is the Šar Planina Mountains on the border between Kosovo and North Macedonia. Under the name Lynx lynx martinoi one was synonymous description of the subspecies published. The Balkan lynx is also listed as one of six valid subspecies of the Eurasian lynx in a revision of the cat classification published in 2017 by the IUCN's Cat Specialist Group . However, the authors note that the Balkan lynx may be identical to the Caucasian lynx ( L. l. Dinniki ), which was described in 1915 by the Russian zoologist Konstantin Alexejewitsch Satunin . In this case, based on the priority rule in biological nomenclature, the scientific name Lynx lynx dinniki would be valid.

Hazard and protection

Shortly after the transfer to the Tirana Zoo, a lynx, which had been kept in a cage for years as an attraction in a restaurant, was given a natural enclosure that also offers it opportunities to retreat.

The Balkan lynx has been almost extinct for almost a century. There are only a few dozen animals left, most of them presumably in Mavrovo National Park in North Macedonia. Today we assume 20 to 40 individuals. Probably only in three places, in the Mavrovo National Park as well as in Albania in the Munella Mountains and in the mountains in the southeast, do the Balkan lynx breed at all.

The critically endangered subspecies has been on the Red List of Endangered Species in Albania since 2007 . In the former Yugoslavia the subspecies was placed under protection in 1973, in Albania in 1994. In 2017, the Balkan lynx was also protected by the Bern Convention at the request of Albania . The subspecies is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN .

In 2006, serious research into the Balkan Lynx for better protection of the subspecies and its habitat began by several organizations that are now united in the Balkan Lynx Recovery Program . Several nature conservation organizations from North Macedonia (Macedonian Ecological Society), Albania (Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania), Switzerland ( KORA ) and Germany ( Euronatur ) as well as organizations from Kosovo and Montenegro joined later. Originally an organization from Norway was also involved. You are working on researching the Balkan lynx and are committed to protecting the subspecies and its habitat. Since then, several sightings have been recorded in North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. In Mavrovo National Park, several animals have been tagged with transmitters to learn more about their behavior and habitat.

The Balkan lynx is primarily endangered by people who poach it, hunt its prey and clear the habitat . Habitat is also being restricted by mining activities, quarries and new hydroelectric power plants . Road traffic and the lack of wildlife management as well as earlier armed conflicts also contribute to the endangerment of the subspecies. There is also a threat of genetic material from other lynx species being introduced. The creation of new national parks and the temporary bans on hunting and logging in Albania are successes of nature conservationists in saving the lynx's habitat. The education of the local population, which has received extensive training in recent years, is also of importance.

Web links

Commons : Lynx lynx balcanicus  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Balkan Lynx, Green Belt. In: EuroNatur. Accessed May 31, 2020 .
  2. ↑ News. In: Balkan Lynx Compendium. IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group, March 8, 2012, accessed on May 31, 2020 (English, message “Second lynx radio-tagged in Macedonia”).
  3. ↑ a b c d e Balkan Lynx. In: Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA). Accessed May 31, 2020 (English).
  4. ↑ Action urged to save Balkan lynx. In: BBC News. November 3, 2006, accessed May 31, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b c Urs Breitenmoser, Christine Breitenmoser-Würsten, Paolo Molinari, Andreas Ryser, Manuela von Arx, Anja Molinari-Jobin, Fridolin Zimmermann, Adrian Siegenthaler, Christof Angst, Jean-Marc Weber: Balkan Lynx Field Handbook . Ed .: KORA. 2005 ( nina.no [PDF; accessed May 31, 2020]).
  6. ↑ a b Velizar Simeonovski, Diana Zlatanova: Some notes on the systematics of the Balkan lynx . In: KORA (Ed.): The Balkan Lynx Population: History, Recent Knowledge on its Status and Conservation Needs (=  Kora report . 7 e). June 2001, ISSN  1422-5123 , p. 24 .
  7. ↑ The largest Balkan lynx captured in Mavrovo National Park. In: Macedonian Ecological Society. February 15, 2019, accessed May 31, 2020 .
  8. ↑ a b c Vanessa nirode: In Search of the Balkan Lynx. In: Earth Island Journal. December 19, 2016, accessed May 31, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b c d e f Lynx lynx ssp. balcanicus in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2015. Posted by: Melovski, D., Breitenmoser, U., von Arx, M., Breitenmoser-Würsten, C., Lanz, T., 2015. Accessed May 31, 2020 .
  10. ↑ a b c d Katharina Grund: Hope for the Balkan Lynx? His survival is on the knife edge . In: EuroNatur (Ed.): EuroNatur . No. 1 , 2016, ISSN  0945-148X , p. 18–21 ( euronatur.org [PDF; accessed May 31, 2020]).
  11. ↑ Dime Melovski: New lynx occurrence? First camera-trap photograph of lynx on Pelister Mountain . In: Balkan Lynx Recovery Program (Ed.): Newsletter . No. 02 , 2013, p. 1 ( kora.ch [PDF; accessed on May 31, 2020]).
  12. ↑ a b Balkan lynx: Video-Post. In: Facebook. April 8, 2020, accessed May 31, 2020 .
  13. ↑ a b c d Merlin Pratsch: New hope for survival of one of the world's rarest cats - Leven. In: leven-natur.de. June 3, 2020, accessed on June 22, 2020 .
  14. ↑ a b Balkan Lynx Recovery Program. In: Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA). Accessed March 10, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Camera traps reveal presence of rare Balkan Lynx in Albanian Alps. In: Tirana Times. November 15, 2017, accessed May 31, 2020 .
  16. ^ Balkan lynx: Photo Post. In: Facebook. March 29, 2020, accessed on May 31, 2020 .
  17. ↑ First photo of Balkan Lynx in Kosovo! In: EuroNatur. March 26, 2015, accessed May 31, 2020 .
  18. ↑ ERA Group: Photo Post. In: Facebook. March 19, 2020, accessed on May 31, 2020 .
  19. ^ Balkan lynx: Photo Post. In: Facebook. April 6, 2020, accessed on May 31, 2020 .
  20. ^ Maria Panayotopoulou: Historical distribution and present status of the lynx in Greece . In: KORA (Ed.): The Balkan Lynx Population: History, Recent Knowledge on its Status and Conservation Needs (=  Kora report . 7 e). June 2001, ISSN  1422-5123 , p. 28-31 .
  21. ↑ Christine Breitenmoser-Würsten, Urs Breitenmoser: The lynx in the Balkans ñ a summary of present knowledge . In: KORA (Ed.): The Balkan Lynx Population: History, Recent Knowledge on its Status and Conservation Needs (=  Kora report . 7 e). June 2001, ISSN  1422-5123 , p. 32-35 .
  22. ↑ Boris Kryštufek: Valid name for the Balkan lynx: Lynx lynx martinoi Mirić, 1978, is a junior synonym of Lyx lyx balcanicus Bureš, 1941 . In: Folia Zoologica . tape 62 , no. 2 , June 2013, ISSN  0139-7893 , p. 121–124 , doi : 10.25225 / fozo.v62.i2.a6.2013 ( PDF ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on May 31, 2020]).
  23. ↑ AC Kitchener, C. Breitenmoser-Würsten, E. Eizirik, A. Gentry, L. Werdelin, A. Wilting, N. Yamaguchi, AV Abramov, P. Christiansen, C. Driscoll, JW Duckworth, W. Johnson, S. -J. Luo, E. Meijaard, P. O'Donoghue, J. Sanderson, K. Seymour, M. Bruford, C. Groves, M. Hoffmann, K. Nowell, Z. Timmons, S. Tobe: A revised taxonomy of the Felidae . The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group. In: Cat News. Special Issue 11, 2017, pp. 42–44.
  24. ↑ EuroNatur: Photo Post. In: Facebook. March 8, 2019, accessed May 31, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Промоција на рис балканскиот - симбол на дивината во Македонија (kurir.mk 12 July 2014) ( Memento of 8 November 2014 Internet Archive )
  26. ^ The second Balkan lynx picture in Albania. (PDF) Press release. In: catsg.org. Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), April 24, 2012, accessed on May 31, 2020 .
  27. ↑ a b The Balkan lynx - an Amendment to Appendix II of the Berne Convention . In: Foundation KORA (ed.): Annual Report 2017 (=  KORA report . No. 79 ). June 2019, ISSN  1422-5123 , p. 15 ( kora.ch [PDF; accessed on May 31, 2020]).
  28. ↑ Balkan Lynx BLRP. In: KORA. Accessed May 31, 2020 .
  29. ↑ Atidzhe joins Narcisa and Lisa as the third radio-collared female lynx. In: Macedonian Ecological Society. April 1, 2020, accessed on May 31, 2020 .