New home in Croatia for Romanian lynx

Doru, a four-year-old lynx from the Romanian Carpathians, has been released back into the wild in the Risnjak National Park in Croatia. Doru is the first lynx to be relocated as part of the LIFE Lynx project in order to strengthen the lynx population in the Dinarides.

Into freedom! Doru, at the moment of his release

© Vedran Slijepcevic

At the end of February, male lynx Doru wandered into a trap in the snowy mountain forests of the Carpathians. First of all he had to spend two months in quarantine. It was important to make sure Doru wouldn’t carry any diseases from his old territory to his new one. Just before his release, lynx conservationists from the international LIFE Lynx project, which is also supported by EuroNatur, transferred the handsome brush-eared animal to Croatia. Then, on 4 May, the time was right. Doru was taken to the Risnjak National Park in the Dinarides, fitted with a GPS transmitter and released back to freedom.

Doru is starting off an ambitious project: in the next few months, more lynxes from the stable Carpathian population will be relocated to Slovenia and Croatia. The lynx stocks there are small and genetically weak. The project, which is co-funded by the European Union, aims to help replenish the lynx gene pool in the northern Dinarides and link the isolated population there with other lynx populations.

Here you get more information about our projects protecting lynxes in Europe.

 

News

Learning to live with bears

Preventing conflicts between people and wild animals

Don’t be afraid of the wolf

For the first time in more than 100 years, the presence of a female wolf has been verified in the Black Forest. Since two male wolves already live in…

New Brown bear project just started

An important step for the protection of the Dinaric-Pindos bear population: In close cooperation with our partners in the Balkans and the Italian…

Mother bear murdered in Montenegro

Poachers in Montenegro have shot dead the mother of two young brown bear cubs - a particularly dramatic case of wildlife crime, which has seen a…

Wolf population in West Poland still not secure despite growth in numbers

A long-term study on the spread of wolves into West Poland, which has just been published, makes clear that, despite the continuing growth in numbers…

Boom in illegal trade in animals in Albania

Despite a ban on hunting, numerous wild animals are being killed or traded in Albania; stuffed Balkan lynx, brown bears in cages, wild game on the…

“Bear Killer Gang” sentenced

In northern Spain, members of an organised group of poachers from the province of Palencia were convicted - an important success for bear protection.

Female Balkan lynx fitted with tracking device

Our partners from the North Macedonian nature conservation organisation MES have fitted a Balkan lynx with a tracking device. The female, named…

EU becomes active for Romania's primeval forests

EU announces legal action against Romania for illegal logging of Europe’s last natural forests.

 

ECJ Judgement: No Relaxation of Protection for Wolves

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has placed very tight constraints on the granting of permits allowing wolves to be shot. In their ruling on 10…

New figures: More wolf packs in Western Poland

++ Results of wolf monitoring show at least 95 settled packs ++ Sudetes are also wolf territory again ++

New home in Croatia for Romanian lynx

Doru, a four-year-old lynx from the Romanian Carpathians, has been released back into the wild in the Risnjak National Park in Croatia. Doru is the…

Reunited with Maya

On 18 March last year, a female Balkan lynx called Maya was fitted with a tracking device. Over the past year, this has been providing scientists from…

Mavrovo-Nationalpark: Demand for a halt to construction of hydroelectric power plants

Bern Convention: Macedonian government requested to halt construction of hydropower plants in national park

Ray of hope for Balkan Lynx

The Balkan Lynx has to be strictly protected as a distinct subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx. This decision has been adopted unanimously at the meeting…