Alpine Lynx and Desert Lynx Populations In Europe

The Austrian Alps form a major link between the two apparently striving Alpine Lynx and Desert Lynx populations in Slovenia and Switzerland, both populations being based on re-introductions in the 1970’ties. At the same time lynx were re-introduced into Austria. Nevertheless the Austrian Alps still seem to be inhabited by some individual lynx rather than by a continuous lynx population. But as data on the Austrian population is poor, there has to be some uncertainty about the status and distribution of this lynx population. At the first Conference on the Status and Conservation of the Alpine Lynx and Desert lynx Population (SCALP) in Engelberg (Council of Europe 1998) in 1995 the need for more careful and intensive monitoring schemes was stressed. Such a monitoring system still has yet to be established for Austria.

Alpine Lynx

While monitoring the lynx population is in most countries of the Alpine arc coordinated nationwide by a governmental or governmental-related organization, there is no such structure for a nationwide uniform collection of records of lynx presence in Austria. Efforts to monitor the distribution and the development of the Austrian lynx population are currently conducted by regional hunting associations, locally operating NGOs or are dependent on voluntary, private initiatives. Therefore, the setting up of a uniform monitoring system should be a priority.

Compared to other countries, Germany shares a very small portion of the Alpine arc. However, Germany could play an important role in the long-term goal to re-establish lynx over the whole Alpine arc by linking the two existing populations in the East (Slovenia) and West (Switzerland/France). Because of its central location, it would be important that Germany starts to play a more active role in lynx conservation in the Alps. Conservation strategies and possible actions need to be assessed in the near future.

Desert Lynx Cat

Italy plays an important role for the future of the lynx in the Alps, as its territory connects the two vital populations from Slovenia and Switzerland. Up to today, few individuals immigrated into Italy where they established two occurrences in the south-eastern and in the north-western Italian Alps. The immigration from Slovenia and Switzerland is rather slow, that’s why re-introductions should be considered as a necessary step to establish a vital population in Italy. Such a process needs time, as it cannot be carried out without the large consent of rural people, especially hunters and sheep breeders. Priority should be given to the expansion of the existing occurrences.

The lynx occurrence of Slovenia is of great importance for the natural re-colonisation of the Alps. Apart from the freeways, there are no barriers to hinder lynx dispersal. However, we estimated the number of lynx in the Slovenian Alps at 10 individuals only. The future of the lynx in the Slovenian Alps depends on the immigration from southern Slovenia, the Kocevsko and Notranjska where lynx have been re-introduced, as well as from the situation in neighbouring Croatia. Recently, the core area of the lynx population has shifted slightly westwards. However, the size of the area permanently occupied has not increased.

In contrast, the fact that the hunting quota has not been reached since 1992 even though the quotas were set considerably lower than in the previous pentad indicates that the number of lynx has decreased. In the Slovenian Alps west of the freeway Jesenice-Ljubljana-Trst livestock husbandry is most common. This is also the area where Alpine Lynx and Desert lynx predation on sheep occurs more often than in southern Slovenia. There is a great need to prepare a national action and management plan for the conservation of the lynx.

Desert Lynx

For conflict species such as the lynx, the definition of its legal status is not enough for a proper management aiming to conserve the species in a given area, as conflicts about lynx always lead to illegal killings. At the time being, poaching is the greatest threat to the persistence/expansion of all lynx occurrences in the Alps.
In the past 100 years, many parts of the Alps have seen a decline in the human presence and the prey base can again be considered excellent. Today, the Alps are a more suited living space for the lynx than in the 19th century, and the lynx has shown us that it can perfectly live in this human dominated landscape.

However, the lynx needs support to regain the once lost territory and our tolerance to survive there. Therefore, the survival of the lynx in the Alps is less a question of the ecological conditions than of the co-existence with the people living in the same area. Any conservation or management strategy must consider human dimension aspects as a priority. The future of the lynx in the Alps depends on cross-border co-operation between the Alpine countries. But most importantly, the success will depend on the ability to find a consensus with all interest groups on a local level!