Preliminary evaluation of results from The lynx monitoring in muranska planina national park

Jerguš Tesák¹  & Tomáš Iľko^2
1Katedra biológie a ekológie, Fakulta prírodných vied, Univerzita Mateja Bela, Tajovského 40,  974 01  Banská Bystrica
²Správa NP Muránska planina, Štátna ochrana prírody SR, Banská Bystrica

Abstract

The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is one of the least explored carnivores in Slovakia. The area of MuránskaplaninaNational Park was chosen as a part of the core area of this species of European interest to update the data on its occurrence. This area provides optimal life conditions for the lynx – large forest habitats, abundance of prey and a variety of places to hide. From November 2015 to March 2016 an extensive monitoring was under way, using snow tracking and camera-trapping methods. The main objective was to identify the preferential sites, i.e. those with the biggest potential of the lynx occurrence and then to confirm the effectiveness of the chosen methodology. During this period 16 camera-traps were placed in the forests to record the presence or absence of this target species. In the respective time period 16 records were made. Presence of the European lynx was confirmed in 8 localities. The collected data were used for the identification of the specific individuals. Till now we have identified 7 individuals - 5 adults and 2 subadults. This number may not be final because the exact determination of lynx abundance in a studied territory requires more data, which we plan to accumulate in the near future. 

Key words: Lynx lynx, extensive monitoring, central Slovakia, camera-traps, snow tracking