Lynx migrates from the Ore Mountains to Thuringia

A female lynx released into the wild in Saxony last year has set off on a migration to Thuringia. The cat with the brush ears had traveled more than 150 kilometers from the Ore Mountains to reach the Saale Valley in Thuringia, according to the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (Nabu) in Jena. This was confirmed by an image from a wildlife camera. The animal was the female lynx Nova from a Saxon reintroduction project.

The big cat had passed the A72 and A9 highways on its migration and also the A4 north towards Jena, explained Nabu's lynx project manager Silvester Tamás. "Female lynxes are not actually keen to travel such long distances; however, they may well be motivated to look for a male lynx during the so-called breeding season."

Locations can be easily tracked

The female lynx is a wild lynx from the Swiss Jura Mountains and is fitted with a transmitter collar. She began her migration in the Ore Mountains in December 2024. The rare and protected animal has been in the middle Saale valley in Thuringia since January. Its whereabouts could be easily tracked using the transmission data from its collar. According to Tamás, Nabu hopes that Nova will meet a male lynx in time and provide for further offspring in Thuringia.

Nabu Thuringia has been promoting the establishment of a stable population with its lynx project since 2017 and is committed to ensuring that lynx habitats between the Harz Mountains, Saxony and Bavaria are networked in the long term.