IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Wilson, S.M.; Cerne, R.; Molinari-Jobin, A.; Krofel, M.; Kubala, J.; Novak, N.S.; Piculin, A.; Pop, M.; Sindicic, M.; Skrbinsek, A.M.; Skrbinsek, T.; Potocnik, H.; Stergar, M. | |
| Population level reinforcement plan | |
| 2019 Full Book | |
The Dinaric-Southeastern (SE) Alpine Eurasian lynx (_Lynx lynx_) population found predominantly in Slovenia and Croatia suffers from genetic inbreeding depression and population decline (SindiŠi‘ et al., 2013). This small and isolated population originated from 6 related individuals that were reintroduced in 1973 (Ôop and FrkoviŠ 1998). In small populations, breeding among close relatives is inevitable and leads to reduced fitness that can manifest in myriad ways such as health issues or lower reproduction. Left unchecked, inbreeding depression leads to a decline and eventually the extinction of a population (Allendorf and Luikart 2007). While the 1973 reintroduction was considered a conservation success story until the early 1990s, recent analysis indicates a dramatic drop in the population over the last two decades (Kos et al., 2012). Current estimates suggest that the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population numbers less than 130 individuals (SindiŠi‘ et al., 2010) and that the estimated number of individual lynx that can effectively breed is below the threshold of 50 (SindiŠi‘ et al., 2013), a level to be avoided based on current thinking by conservation geneticists (Franklin and Frankham 1998). Additionally, genetic analysis has confirmed considerable inbreeding of the Dinaric-SE Alpine population compared to the lynx population found in the Carpathian Mountains (SindiŠi‘ et al., 2013). This indicates that survival and reproductive capacity of the Dinaric-SE Alpine population is only a fraction of the Carpathian source. Low effective population size, inbreeding, low genetic diversity and demographic stochasticity make the likelihood of lynx population survival in the near future low (SindiŠi‘ et al., 2013). Inbreeding depression has negative consequences on all aspects of reproduction and survival (population fitness), increasing the risk of lynx extinction. While Slovenia and Croatia both have existing lynx management plans, neither country has had the resources until recently, to address the population decline of lynx. In 2014, two lynx were translocated from the Jura Mountains of Switzerland to the Friuli region of Italy in an attempt to improve the outlook for lynx in the SE Alps, but without connections to a larger metapopulation, the outlook for lynx in the SE Alps is also poor. Without a coordinated national and transnational management response that relies on translocating and integrating new lynx into Dinaric-SE Alpine population, the existing lynx population will continue to decline. This document describes the population-level reinforcement plan within the LIFE Lynx project, an effort to prevent the extinction of the Dinaric-SE Alpine lynx population through reinforcement and long-term conservation |
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(c) IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group ( IUCN - The World Conservation Union) |