Balkan lynx roaming the mountainous north of Albania.
© PPNEA/SCOPES/BLRPJust one year ago the first Albanian lynx jumped into a photographic trap: For the first time there was photographic proof that Balkan lynxes still existed in Albania. Now the second photograph further proves the existence of this large feline in the north of Albania.
On paper Balkan lynxes enjoy high protection. However, reality shows something different: More than once poachers kill these felines. The on-going destruction of their habitat represents another major problem.
“The second proof fosters the hope of survival of a tiny group of Balkan lynx in Albania. Now it is paramount to enhance the protection measures for the lynxes and their habitats in Albania and to champion along with our partners the quick declaration of protected border-crossing areas” states EuroNatur-managing director Gabriel Schwaderer.
Further info about EuroNatur-projects on the protection of the Balkan lynx
The Balkan lynx belongs to one of the most endangered large felines: Probably less than 50 of these animals still live in western Macedonia and eastern Albania. Together with our partner organisations KORA (Koordinierte Forschungsstelle für Großraubtiere in der Schweiz), MES (Macedonian Ecolocical Society) and PPNEA (Preservation and Protection of Natural Environment in Albania) EuroNatur launched in 2006 the „Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme“(BLPR), a project for the protection of the Balkan lynx. The field studies on the ecology of this feline are financially backed-up by Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF) and Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit (DEZA) in the framework of the programme SCOPES (Scientific co-operation between Eastern Europe and Switzerland).
Please, support EuroNatur in protecting the Balkan lynx