Latest news from the project

The four so far reintroduced lynxes have found a new home in the Thuringian Forest (as intended).

The Thuringian lynx Luna makes an important contribution to a stable lynx population in the south-eastern Alps

With Vreni and Kilian, four young lynxes have now been released into the wild in the Thuringian Forest.

On Tuesday, 27 August 2024, Vreni and Kilian left the release enclosure. They come from the Carpathian lynx conservation breeding programme of the European Association for Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

In August 2024, the first female lynx and her offspring were documented by a wildlife camera in the Thuringian Forest on the border to Bavaria.

A film team regularly documented the work on-site. The result is a ten-minute video that not only showcases moving images but also gives a voice to the project partners.

To celebrate International Lynx Day, we are marking the release of Frieda and Viorel into the Thuringian Forest.

Yesterday, on May 15, 2024, we reached a milestone for conservation in Thuringia and our project: The first two lynxes were successfully reintroduced into the Thuringian Forest.

We are pleased to announce that the transport of the wild male lynx Vioreel from Romania has been successfully completed.

We are pleased to announce that the lynx Frieda from the Wildcat Village Hütscheroda has successfully moved to the new release enclosure in the Thuringian Forest. There, she now has the opportunity to acclimate to her future environment while waiting for the arrival of her potential partner from Romania.

In order to slowly adapt to their new environment, all lynx in the project are kept in an enclosure in the middle of the Thuringian Forest for around 2-4 weeks before being released into the wild.

Our colleagues from ACDB have caught their first lynx in a box trap in the Romanian Carpathians.

In the southern Thuringian Forest and the Thuringian Slate Mountains, we have been able to confirm the presence of at least two different lynxes in the past few weeks.

In January, our camera traps in the Eichsfeld (North-West Thuringia) were able to confirm the presence of a lynx accompanied by at least two cubs.

It’s official: Thuringia’s Minister of the Environment, Bernhard Stengele, marked the start of the project “Lynx Thuringia – Connecting Europe’s Lynxes” today by handing over the grant notification.

In lynx projects, there may be situations where a lynx needs to be recaptured. We, from the “Luchs Thüringen” project and other representatives from lynx reintroduction projects in Germany, participated in a workshop on “Lynx Capture” in Switzerland, where there are decades of experience on this topic.

Similar to forensic experts at a crime scene, the Lynx Commissioners practiced analyzing all evidence (footprints, bite marks, feeding characteristics, etc.) and attempted to find hairs or collect fresh saliva samples from the carcass to determine which animal or even which individual was involved.

On November 27th, an information event for the project “Lynx Thuringia” took place at the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Thuringian Forest Information Center.

The lynxes Frieda and Junior, born in Hütscheroda in 2022, have demonstrated that they exhibit the necessary wariness towards humans, making them suitable candidates for release into the wild.

At the beginning of August, our lynx coordination facility in the wildcat village Hütscheroda was completed.

In early summer, Kaja, the lynx of the wildcat village Hütscheroda, became a mother for the fourth time!

At the beginning of June, a male lynx was found dead in the Eichsfeld region of Thuringia, not far from the border with Lower Saxony.

Norik is the first lynx bred in the Wildcat Village Hütscheroda’s conservation program, now ready to lead a life in the wild.