Male Lynx Sharing Territory in Poland

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Male Lynx Sharing Territory in Poland

CAT NEWS
Issue 15, Autumn 1991

Henryk Okarma of Poland's Mammal Research Institute reported that recent studies in the Bialowieza forest had shown two male lynx sharing large parts of their home ranges. Radio tracking by Okarma, Krzysztof Schmidt and Wlodzimierz Jedrzejewski last winter found a 25% overlap of the range of one lynx, and 40% of the other.

"Moreover, we found that they could stay very close to each other. In three cases they were less than three km apart, which suggests weak conflict among adult males and much more flexible use of space by lynx than in the traditional territory concept," Okarma said in a preliminary report on a proposed long-term study.

The lynx were captured in February and March. Both were brown, with no visible spots on the back and sides. There were slight dark spots on the posterior part of their bodies and inner legs. One, named Bazyli, about 5-6 years old weighed 20 kg, and the other, Makary, about 3-4 years old, weighed 19 kg. Bazyli had a home range of 210 km² and Makary 90km².

Studies during two winters indicated that red deer Cervus elephas were the main prey, but lynx also took roe deer Capreolus capreolus. There was one case of an adult wild boar Sus scrofa being killed by lynx. The collared lynx fed for two days on roe deer and three days on red deer, usually starting from the hind quarters, but also from shoulders and neck. It had been thought that lynx in Poland preyed mainly on hares Lepus capensis, rodents and Tetraonidae birds. However, in the Carpathian mountains in southern Poland, lynx have been found to prey on red deer calves in poor condition and on wild boar.

Okarma noted that, in three cases, wild boar found the carcases and ate them completely, indicating that lynx are forced to hunt and kill more frequently when boar are present.

The Bialowieza Forest covers 1,250 km² in lowland north-east Poland bordering the USSR. It includes a 47 km² national park, and is famous as the last refuge of the European bison Bison bonasus. Densities of red deer and wild boar in the park are the highest ever recorded - 8-21 red deer/km² and 9-38 wild boar/km². Wolves Canis lupus also inhabit the forest.

Lynx in Bialowieza are part of a small, scattered population in north-east Poland. A larger population, showing more body spots, exists in the south in the Carpathian mountains, being the western extension of the Russian population, estimated to number 30,000-50,000. Lynx in Poland are regularly hunted.

Okarma states that in the Russian part of Bialowieza lynx and other predators are shot to protect deer populations for foreign hunters.

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