Lynx
Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx)
Presence marks
Presence marks indicate that certain animal species resides in observed area. Presence marks of lynx are:
- footprints
- feces
- urine
- prey remains
- sounds
Rufus
Rufus is a three-year-old male lynx. He was born in the spring of 2016, in the central part of the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy Mountains. In December 2017 Rufus moved to Slovak Javorníky, where he now lives permanently. In March 2019, Rufus was trapped (into a cage) and was fitted with a satellite telemetry collar.
Common Catnip
Common catnip is a drug for domestic cats and also for some feline carnivores. Cats intentionally seek out catnip stands and roll in them and nibble their leaves which brings them into ecstasy. Oil from catnip is successfully used as an attractant, which is applied to the hair traps designed to capture lynx hair for subsequent DNA analysis. Another herb, common valerian (Valeriana officinalis), have similar effect to cats like common catnip.
Common Catnip (Nepeta Cataria)
Lynx leaves a hair sample
Following movie shows the lynxes from Zoo Ostrava and their reaction to attractant applied on a hair trap placed inside their enclosure. This particular kind of the hair trap is used in the 5-year project Large carnivores monitoring in the PLA Beskydy.