Winter penetration and movements of a male lynx

Abstract

In winter seasons since 1971 till 1979 traces of a male lynx passing through the forest adjacent to the forester's lodge, the ploughland, and the yard of the lodge were noted. In 1976, lynx trails were followed for 67 days. Between the 10th of January and the 18th of March the lynx passed near the forester's lodge 17 times. Most often the animal returned after 24 to 72 hours. Three times the animal was absent for a longer period — from 5 to 17 days. The lynx moved by: (1) transfers — on the distance of several hundred metres to several kilometres it went in a chosen direction, often using forest paths and repeating the routes from previous days, (2) penetration — the lynx dodged searching for prey. The remains of the lynx quarries showed that the killed animals were: calves and female red deer, roe-deer, and hares.