STORY OF JISKRA THE LYNX
Our last photos and videos from Novohradske hory shows us, that the three kittens of Jiskra born in spring 2016 successfully made it till independence! They are not juveniles any more, following their mum everywhere she goes, but subadults moving on their own and maybe already dispersing to new areas. What is so special about that? Well, lynx mothers usually lose one or more of their kittens during their first, most vulnerable, year of life. An average litter size of lynx, according to our data from this area, is 2-2.4. But 40% of kittens die before they reach one year of age. Therefore, Jiskra is very good, unusually successful mother! Taking into account she is a young female, born in 2014, and this was her first attempt at motherhood, she did a wonderful job. Check it yourself – see how the time went with Blesk, Boure and Svit in Novohradske hory area.
22.11.2018
It is highly probable that Jiskra is dead. Nobody saw her since January of this year and her new kittens join their older siblings before they were big enough to take care of themselves. If Jiskra was killed by car or poachers we can only guess.
She was really exceptional animal and we are glad that we can through her kittens observe unusual lynx behavioural patterns henceforth.
Videos:
Jiskra with subadults in Waldviertel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXjbCXsNCcE
Blesk and Boure in Novohradské hory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it-JbnPB9ro&feature=youtu.be
Svit with hare in Waldviertel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewR2KJ2oaVs
The first time Jiskra's family was camera-trapped in August 2016, we thought she had only two cubs as average lynx mother. The third one was observed later. Here they are roughly three months old.
First winter as subadult, Svit, doughter of Jiskra was, doing fine. And so were her two siblings
Survival of all cubs is rare, that is one of Jiskra uniqueness. Here we see her children Boure and Blesk
Svit, a female, stayed in the area of Novohradske hory/Freiwald, unlike Blesk and Boure, who had left and are in a search of new territory.
Blesk
Svit (on the right), Blesk is on the left
