MES captured a Balkan lynx on 5 March on Stogovo Mountain. After the GPS collar was mounted, the lynx was released back in the wild. The capture was conducted within the project Status, ecology and land tenure system of the critically endangered Balkan lynx Lynx lynx martinoi in Macedonia and Albania, which is financially supported by the Swiss Natural Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The animal was captured using a box trap deployed on the territory of Hunting Society Dushegubica, which is managed by PE “Macedonian Forests”, the sector Lopushnik-Kichevo, in oak forest with steep ground. The Balkan lynx protection team established a very fruitful collaboration with this hunting society, by means of which the lynx is monitored.
After being captured, the lynx was sedated, and while under sedation, the animal was thoroughly examined and measured, blood and hair samples were taken for genetic analysis and a GPS collar was placed on it. The lynx is a male, healthy individual, probably two or three years old, 98 cm long and weighing 17 kg.
The MES team decided to name the lynx Riste. Thanks to the GPS technology, Riste is already sending data about its movement. This data is of exceptional scientific importance in the process to obtain knowledge about the ecology and biology of the Balkan lynx. By comparison of data we will be able to see whether Marko, the lynx captured in 2010, and Riste are neighbours, that is, whether their home range overlaps.
This is the second lynx in Macedonia we have placed a GPS collar on. The MES team comprising Dime Melovski, Aleksandar Stojanov, Gjorgje Ivanov and Vasko Avukatov has already been working for six years on the protection of the Balkan lynx within the Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme. The first lynx they put a GPS collar to was captured in a box trap in March 2010 in the Mavrovo National Park. The session for capturing Balkan lynx individuals is going to continue this year as well, and the team hopes that new individuals of the critically endangered Balkan lynx will be captured.