February 4, 2023, 1:43 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Only a handful of lynxes live in Thuringia. However, experts in the state of Thuringia see the potential for up to 100 of these endangered animals. With the “Luchs-Wald” project, the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) aims to create refuges for them.
Over 200-year-old beeches, oaks, and sycamores, interspersed with impenetrable thickets. “In the summer, it looks like the jungle in South America here,” says Silvester Tamás from the conservation group Nabu Thüringen about the area in Großlöbichau near Jena. The area was designated as a “Lynx Forest” on January 30 and, with an area of about seven hectares, the forest area is too small to serve as a habitat for the endangered wildcats, explains Tamás. However, untouched areas like these can serve as refuges for the animals and are thus an important component for the return of lynxes to Thuringia.
Enough Space for 100 Lynxes
“Nabu has set the ambitious goal of helping the lynx make a comeback in Germany,” explains Tamás. Currently, only an estimated handful of specimens live in Thuringia. The potential in the state—with the Thuringian Forest, Slate Mountains, and the green corridor over the Saale Valley—is significant, explains the project coordinator: “We have space for 90 to 100 lynxes.”
Due to its central location in Germany and Europe, Thuringia is “an important transit point for the Central European lynx population,” emphasizes Tamás. For the currently three groups living in Germany—in the Harz, Bavarian Forest, and Palatinate Forest—Thuringia could play a key role, according to experts. In the Harz, the lynx density is already high, with two to three animals per 100 square kilometers, says the coordinator. “It’s getting too crowded for the lynxes there—they want to move to Thuringia and other forest-rich areas.”
Lynxes live as solitary animals and need extensive forest areas to claim sufficiently large territories. A male’s territory can cover up to 450 square kilometers. Once widespread in Western Europe, the large cats were nearly exterminated by humans through targeted hunting. Even though the animals are now protected and not as heavily hunted, the lynx remains endangered due to habitat destruction.
https://oembed/petbook/affiliate/43c755667d29e79c947a5a0c9ba0e3fadb9a56598bc86c34660a8b05b0a500fe/5cfe814a-868f-47cf-a245-7ec02dfaf9cd/embed
Also of interest: The Iberian lynx is one of the rarest cats in the world
More and more lynx are living in the Harz Mountains – what does that mean for people?
How the European Wildcat Returned to Germany
The Siberian Tiger–one of the rarest big cats in the world
“Lynx Forest” Aims to Protect Habitats for Animals
In addition to preserving untouched mixed deciduous forests, Nabu sees an important task in raising public awareness for the protection of wildcats, says Tamás: “Many animals die because they are illegally hunted or possibly mistaken by hunters.”
The forest area recognized on January 31 belongs to the Nabu Foundation National Natural Heritage. Chemicals against bark beetles are not used here, nor are chainsaws. Following an area near Nordhausen and one near the Hohenwarte Reservoir, this is the third location in Thuringia to receive the symbolic designation as a “Lynx Forest.”
The conservationists also aim to motivate other forest owners to protect habitats for animals with this initiative. “We must have the courage to let nature take its course in certain areas,” says Tamás. This not only helps the lynx but also other shy forest dwellers like the black stork.
With material from dpa