Baron dies in train accident

25.09.2025

Luchs Baron © Max Kesberger
Release of Baron the lynx into the wild on 29 August 2025. Photo: Max Kesberger

Unfortunately, we have to report that at the beginning of the week, we found the young lynx Baron dead next to the railway tracks between Meiningen and Themar. The GPS data from the transmitter suggests that Baron was hit by a train while crossing the tracks and died shortly afterwards in the adjacent woods.

The one-year-old lynx had been spotted in early summer in a severely weakened state near Bockstadt (Eisfeld). Following reports from the public, he was captured and handed over to the care of the wildlife rescue centre at the Alternative Bear Park in Worbis. Under human care, his condition improved rapidly, allowing him to be released back into the wild at the end of August.

Unfortunately, Baron was unable to enjoy his second chance at life in the wild for long.

Despite this loss, the Thuringian Lynx Project team does not foresee any negative consequences for the future of the lynx in the Thuringian Forest. The number of male animals remains high enough to ensure positive population development.

Baron had probably migrated from Bavaria. At the age of one, young lynxes leave their mothers‘ territories to find their own hunting grounds. Many young lynxes do not survive this period of migration. The fragmentation of their habitats by roads and railway lines can prove fatal. In addition to disease, traffic accidents are one of the most common causes of death among lynxes.