PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population went extinct at the end of 19th century due to active persecution, habitat fragmentation and lack of prey species. It was successfully reintroduced in 1970s from the Carpathian source to Slovenia. It spread also to Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina towards south-east as well as to Italy in the west, but in the following decades its population declined mainly due to genetic deterioration (inbreeding and genetic drift). Urgent measures to refresh and enrich the existing population and to improve its connectivity toward the other populations, especially towards the Alps, were necessary.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective was to rescue the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population from extinction and to appropriately safeguard the population into 21st century, also by creating a “stepping stone” population towards the Alps and to generate a new population nucleus of the current Dinaric population further west. The Dinaric-SE Alpine population was reinforced with the viable source population from the Carpathians (Romania and Slovakia) to reduce inbreeding to an acceptable level, reversing the population decline and increasing population viability. Surveillance and conservation management was carried out at transboundary level to ensure long-term viability of the reinforced lynx population. The reinforcement was an inclusive stakeholder-supported process which ensured broad public acceptance. The project also developed a science-based management tool for strategic planning.
RESULTS
The project managed to reverse the population decline by translocating 12 lynxes into the Dinaric population. Furthermore, 6 more lynxes were released in the Alpine area. With these actions, the distributional range increased from 1 500 to 3 300 km2. 12 new territories (including males and females) were established, with successful reproduction. Inbreeding coefficient decreased from 0.32 to 0.19 (and to 0.08, if Alpine population is considered) increasing the population’s fitness substantially. Population guidelines, an action plan for Slovenia, an expert study in Croatia and a management plan for Italy were prepared. Scientific grounded monitoring (innovative genetic methods, GIS supported databases, etc.) and evaluation of the reinforcement are sustained after the project, involving continued cooperation between key stakeholders, such as Slovenian, Croatian and Italian hunters and local communities, as well as foresters, teachers, schoolchildren, students, workers in the tourism sector. The project raised considerable public attention and received strong support all through its lifetime.
Numerous communication activities were implemented, such as 2 films, 20 professional and 40 amateur video clips which are available on the project’s YouTube channel. Additionally, a short cartoon on Lynx, broadcasted several times is also available. The project concluded with over 530 000 unique page views, 9 760 Facebook followers, 11 370 followers on 'LIFE Lynx – hrvatski terenski blog', and 3 705 Instagram followers. 26 press releases and 44 popular articles in various media were published, and also 72 publications and 1 887 media articles with mentions of the project were registered.
