Lynx Svit became younges mother ever recorded

Jiskra, a lynx from the Novohradské Mountains gave birth to three kittens, Svit, Boure and Blesk, in the spring of 2016. To our huge surprise, the next summer, Svit started to show up with the kitten!

After checking all the families of the neighbourhood several times, and together with Ochrana velkých šelem and Luchsprojekts getting a total of 31 records of this lynx and her kitten, it was clear: Svit had become a mother! So, why is this so extraordinary? This is officially the first case of the Eurasian lynx reproducing in the first year of life!

According to expert literature, young lynx normally have their own kittens after two or three years, depending on their physical condition. In regions with strong populations of deer, which is the case of our Bohemian-Bavarian-Austrian population, it is usually earlier than those with less. In the north, in areas of Scandinavia the deer densities are much smaller therefore it takes young lynx much longer to grow up and gain the necessary weight to cope with pregnancy. Amazingly, until now, no one has ever seen the case of the Eurasian lynx having kittens before the age of two.

We know that despite her early pregnancy, Svit was a good mother as her kitten, a male named Stello, has survived to adulthood. Rather interestingly, because of her early pregnancy, Svit was unable to leave her mother Jiskra’s territory. This would be commonplace when lynx reach puberty but instead, both females shared one territory. One big, loving lynx family :-) We have recently published these findings in a short communication in the European Journal of Wildlife Research. You can read the article here: https://link.springer.com/...