Missing lynx Vreni has been spotted again – with offspring

07.05.2026

Vreni, the female lynx released into the wild in August 2024, who had long been missing without a trace, has reappeared – accompanied by at least one cub.

Following her release into the Thuringian Forest in August 2024, contact with Vreni was lost at an early stage due to a technical fault with the GPS transmitter. For over a year, there was no sign of life from the animal. It was only through new images from camera traps, taken in February and March of this year, that Vreni could now be identified by her individual fur pattern. One of the images also shows a young lynx following Vreni at close quarters.

The young lynx is already almost fully grown and is thought to have been born in spring 2025. Vreni, who is around two years old, has therefore successfully reproduced in the first year following her release into the wild. Lynxes give birth once a year, usually in May or June, typically to two to four cubs.

The project team had picked up Vreni’s trail thanks to footage from a private wildlife camera and subsequently began setting up their own cameras in the area in November 2025. A big thank you goes to the hunting leaseholders and forest owners in the region, whose support made a crucial contribution to the search for Vreni.

Vreni comes from the Zurich Wildlife Park, where she was born in spring 2023. Following the completion of the reintroduction project in the Harz National Park in the early 2000s, Vreni is the first lynx born in human care to have given birth to cubs in the wild in Germany. This is a major success for species conservation!