A 5-year-old female Caucasian lynx named Dorlion living in the scotch pine forests of the Sarıkamış district of Kars in northeastern Turkey has walked 1,400 kilometers (869 miles) in 11 months in an area of 446 square kilometers (172 square miles).
The KuzeyDoğa Foundation, established a decade ago in Sarıkamış with the permission of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks to detect and protect the biological diversity in eastern Anatolia, said that a Caucasian lynx was caught by the members of the association on July 6, 2021, in Sarıkamış with the support of Eskişehir Zoo.
A collar with GPS indicating location and GPRS devices providing data was attached to the lynx.
The movements and the habitat of the 5-year-old female lynx – weighing 15 kilograms (33 pounds) – in nature were followed by the satellite transmitters.
As a result of this study, it was determined that Dorlion, whose areas and routes in the Sarıkamış and Selim districts were recorded, hunted at night and rested in safe areas away from people during the day.
It was also determined that the lynx, which is called the "ghost of the forest" because it hunts at night, used an area of 446 square kilometers in Sarıkamış and Selim districts and traveled 1,400 kilometers in the last 11 months.
KuzeyDoğa Foundation Science Coordinator Emrah Çoban told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Sarıkamış is home to many wild animals.
"Sarıkamış forests are located at the intersection of these two subspecies of lynx in Turkey. One of these species is the Eurasian lynx and the other is the Caucasian lynx."
Çoban stated that they were following the trail of the lynx, which is in danger of extinction, in Sarıkamış.
"The Caucasian lynx is very valuable to us because this is the only place it is seen in Turkey. So, we focused on researching the Caucasian lynx, we have been working on lynxes for about 10 years. We have been catching lynxes and installing satellite transmitters since 2013. While this work continues, we caught a Caucasian lynx with Eskişehir Zoo officials, which we named 'Dorlion.'"
Çoban explained that they had watched Dorlion and obtained important information.
"Dorlion, which we have been watching for 11 months, has wandered around an area of 446 square kilometers so far. For a Caucasian lynx to live, it needs six times the area of Istanbul Airport, one of the largest airports in the world. This determination shows how important forests and natural habitats are for lynxes, and how important their conservation plans are. We see how carefully the data needs to be analyzed while it is being done."
Noting that the lynx also uses areas other than forests and traveled 1,400 kilometers in this process, Çoban said that the female lynx goes to the deepest and quietest parts of the forest to breed in winter and look for a mate.
Çoban added that the monitor they had attached to Dorlion will fall off on its own after a while if she gives birth and that they hope to record her with her cubs in the future using camera traps.
