Balkan Lynx Field Handbook 1 Supported by the Federal Agency of Nature Conservation with financial means of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Federal Republic of Germany. The Balkan Lynx Field Handbook is a part of the Balkan Green Belt project of EURONATUR. © 2005 KORA. 2 Balkan Lynx Field Handbook Urs Breitenmoser, Christine Breitenmoser-Würsten, Paolo Molinari, Andreas Ryser, Manuela von Arx, Anja Molinari-Jobin, Fridolin Zimmermann, Adrian Siegenthaler, Christof Angst and Jean-Marc Weber 3 4 Index 1. Introduction ..............................................................................................................7 2. Species information .................................................................................................8 3. Field signs 3.1. Tracks, movement patterns and associated signs Ungulates Roe deer ................................................................................................12 Chamois ................................................................................................14 Red deer ................................................................................................16 Wild boar ...............................................................................................18 Domestic goat .......................................................................................20 Domestic sheep .....................................................................................21 Birds and Lagomorphs ....................................................................................22 Carnivores Eurasian lynx ........................................................................................24 Wildcat .................................................................................................26 Wolf ......................................................................................................28 Red fox ..................................................................................................30 Golden jackal ........................................................................................32 Brown bear ............................................................................................34 Badger ...................................................................................................36 3.2. Kills 3.2.1. Assessing the cause of death .................................................................38 3.2.2. Hunting and feeding behaviour of lynx ................................................38 3.2.3. Distinguishing lynx kills from other kills .............................................42 3.2.4. Checklist for kill identification .............................................................51 4. Collecting, documenting and storing filled observations and monitoring data 4.1. Dead lynx .........................................................................................................52 4.2.Tracks and other field signs ..............................................................................55 4.3. Kills ..................................................................................................................57 4.4. Chance and second-hand observations ............................................................61 5. Field techniques and technical equipment 5.1. Track transects .................................................................................................62 5.2. Camera trapping ...............................................................................................64 6. References ..............................................................................................................68 7 Appendices 7.1. Checklist Field material ...................................................................................70 7.2. Report forms ....................................................................................................72 7.3. Addresses 8. Empty pages for notes 5 6 1. Introduction The Field Handbook for the Monitoring information in the field are skilled and of Lynx compiles information relevant motivated! But personal skills and moti- for the collection of data and observa- vation is not enough; all members of the tions from free-living lynx. This hand- monitoring network need to follow the book was produced to facilitate the same principles and procedures. survey and monitoring of the lynx in The ecological and biological informa- the south-western Balkans, mainly in tion about the Balkan lynx are extremely Albania and in the FYR of Macedonia. scarce. Most of the information on lynx The lynx from this region is considered presented in this handbook is taken form an own subspecies, Lynx lynx martinoi, studies on the lynx done elsewhere, in which is critically endangered. The Scandinavia, in Poland, in the Alps or in status of the Balkan lynx is not well the Carpathians. We assume that the Bal- known, but the total size of the popu- kan lynx does not strongly differ from the lation is most likely below 100 indivi- Nordic or Carpathian lynx in its basic bi- duals, with a decreasing tendency (von ological features and in its ecology. But Arx et al. 2004). For Albania, Zoto it is important to emphasis that this is an (2000) estimates that the lynx popula- assumption, and that (sub)specific infor- tion had decreased by 50 % during the mation on the Balkan lynx are urgently past 50 years and is today as small as needed. What does this mean? Each user 25 individuals. Conservation measures of this handbook should remain critical are urgent, but targeted conservation and carefully compare the information actions can only be implemented if the given in this manual with the observati- distribution and status of the Balkan on she or he makes in the field, and – if lynx is known. If once a conservation they differ – report back to the authors of programme is established, the monito- this handbook. ring of the population must continue, so The information presented in this ma- that we know whether the conservation nual were not specifically produced for actions are effective and can adjust the this purpose. We have taken them from programme whenever needed. various works, which are listed in the re- This handbook is not an instruction ferences (chapter 6). For more detailed on how to organise the monitoring information, we refer to the original pu- – monitoring concepts are outlined in blications, which however are mainly in a special document, in the Guidelines English, German, or French. for the Monitoring of Lynx, also pro- The authors hope that this little hand- duced for the monitoring workshop for book is useful during the fieldwork and the Balkan lynx hold 15–17 November, will eventually help to save the Balkan 2005, in Mavrovo National Park, FYR lynx from extinction. Any feedback re- of Macedonia. The handbook provi- garding errors and completions is wel- des practical information useful in the come! field. A monitoring programme is only successful, if the people collecting the 7 2. Species Information Demography Mating takes place from February to mid-April (Balkan lynx January to Fe- bruary according to Miric 1981). Males follow the females to check their repro- ductive status. Oestrus lasts about three days. The male accompanies the female all that time, and they copulate often. During this period, they also often feed together on a prey, mostly killed by the female. It is occasionally possible to ob- serve the female with the kittens from Female lynx with young (just before separa- the last year and the male together du- tion) in the Swiss Jura Mts. ring the mating season. Birth takes place 67–74 days after con- ception, usually late May/early June (if Miric’s observation regarding the early mating season is correct, Balkan lynx could give birth already in April). Lit- ter size varies from 1–5, but most often, 2–3 kittens are born. A newborn lynx cub weighs about 300 g. Kittens are born in a well-sheltered den that is dry and has only one to few entrances. Kittens are moved several times to different dens before they Five days old lynx kitten in a den well pro- start following the mother at their own. tected from weather and predators in a rock Dens can be found in a rock heap, a rock lair in the Swiss Jura Mountains. lair, a rootstock or an earth lair. The female does not bring food to the den. The kittens only start eating meat when they can follow the female to the kill, at about the age of three months. Kittens stay with the mother until the next mating season. They leave the mother at the age of about 10 months in March or April, when they have a weight of 9–14 kg. Young lynx feeding on a kill in September 8 Land tenure system The lynx inhabits forested areas in most of its range. Only the Central Asian sub- species, L. l. isabellinus, lives in an al- most treeless environment. In Europe, the lynx used to live in all types of forest from the Mediterranean hard-leaved fo- rest to the northern boreal forest. Today, the lynx is restricted to the remaining Carpathian lynx resting on a rock in dense large forest complexes of the continent. cover during daytime. Reasons for the recovery of the species in Europe during the 20th century were the expansion of forest and the recovery lynx in Europe: 180–2780 km² for males of prey (roe deer). and 98–759 km² for females. The high- est values were found in the northern or Lynx are solitarily living animals, except mountainous regions of Scandinavia. for females and the young