Bringing lynxes from Austria – Zeus and Hera.
In the reintroduction of the lynx, two worlds clash – the planned, ordered, tested – the world of procedures, research, planned actions and the unpredicted, instinctive, spontaneous world of a wild animal.
Today we will talk about the part of the activities of the West Pomeranian Nature Society in which there is no room for coincidence.
Each individual that comes to our Dzika Zagroda in Jabłonowo is the result of carefully planned cooperation, the beginnings of which date back to 2015. It was then that the first talks with domestic and foreign centers began, which resulted in the admission of the first lynx to our enclosures.
The lynxes that we release into the wild come from our breeding in Dzika Zagroda and from the so-called wildparks, mainly from Germany and Austria, but the cooperation so far has also included lynxes from Latvia and Estonia.
In January 2019, the most important stage began – the release of the first lynx into the wild.
Although we do not give the names of these institutions, we can safely say that these are places that attach great importance to preserving the natural instincts of animals. We had to develop many standards ourselves.
The cubs that are born there as a result of properly selected associations are a tourist attraction – but not all of them can stay there.
And it is those that are ready to return to wild life that come to us.
What is important – before such a lynx appears in our enclosure, it undergoes the entire qualification process. Genetics plays a key role here. Hair samples of potential parents are analyzed at the University of Bialystok by a team of geneticists: Prof. Mirosław Ratkiewicz and Dr. Maciej Matosiuk. It is they, based on the results of the research, who assess whether a given genetic combination is appropriate. Thanks to this, we can be sure that lynxes that not only have the right origin – in this case we are only interested in lowland lynxes – but also provide genetic diversity for the future population come to Poland.
After arriving at the Dzika Zagroda in Jabłonowo, lynxes undergo a period of adaptation, quarantine and observation. Only those individuals that behave in accordance with their natural instincts – including, above all, showing distance and fear of humans – can be qualified for release.
Thanks to this cooperation – and thanks to an extremely rigorous approach to the selection of animals – it has already been possible to prepare 100 lynxes for life in the wild.
From 2024, lynxes from our breeding will be released into the wild. Each of them is not only a representative of a protected species, but also an ambassador of hope for restoring balance in our ecosystems.
Nature doesn’t need boundaries – and we don’t have to set them either, thanks to our cooperation.
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The activities are carried out by the West Pomeranian Nature Society as part of the LIFE22-NAT-PL-LIFE LYNX PL LT DE Project „Expanding the range of lynx populations in northern Poland”.
Funded by the EU. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author or authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the European Union or the European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor CINEA are responsible for them. Co-financed by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and the WWF Poland Foundation.
The project partners are: West Pomeranian Nature SocietyWWF Poland, Spychowo Forest District, State Forests
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Rewilding Oder Delta
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