Lynx Is Back After 200 Years

According to information by National Park Šumava representatives foresters maintaining the Giant Mountain National Park (The Krkonose National Park - KRNAP) recently found traces confirming the presence of lynxes in over there.

These wild felines used to inhabit The Krkonose Mountains in the 18th century, but they were thought to be completely extinct there since the beginning of the 19th century, as Radek Drahný, a representative of the National Park, informed.

The director of the National Park Jan Hřebačka said: "In the past we had seen some clues suggesting that lynx migrated to Krkonoše. This year, however, we gained confidence that it does exist in the Giant Mountains."

The National Park representatives do not still know if the migrant is an individual wild cat or there is a pack looking for new territories for living. The presence of lynx was also reported by park managers from the Polish side of the Giant Mountains who recently found lynx footprints.
And it is known that an individual lynx was hit by a car in the Jizera in the past several years.

Lynxes are highly endangered big wild cats living in areas of coniferous and mixed forests preferably located on high altitudes far from areas affected by human activity. These wild felines can skilfully climb the trees, but they prefer to hunt their prey on the ground. They are also rather good swimmers and can catch fish. Lynxes prefer solituary way of life but they can also travel and hunt in small groups. In our days lynxes are very rare animals so hunting on them is illegal in many countries.

Photo: Florida Bobcat, by Craig Oneal (wikimedia.org)