Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation
Rehabilitation of injured or immature individuals has become an increasingly used conservation and management tool. However, scientific evaluation of rehabilitations is rare, raising concern about post-release welfare as well as the cost-effectiveness of spending scarce financial resources. Over the...
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2024
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297789 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297789 |
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crplos:10.1371/journal.pone.0297789 2024-05-19T07:50:06+00:00 Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation Molinari-Jobin, Anja Zimmermann, Fridolin Borel, Stéphanie Le Grand, Luc Iannino, Elena Anders, Ole Belotti, Elisa Bufka, Ludek Ćirović, Duško Drouet-Hoguet, Nolwenn Engleder, Thomas Figura, Michał Fuxjäger, Christian Gregorova, Eva Heurich, Marco Idelberger, Sylvia Kubala, Jakub Kusak, Josip Melovski, Dime Middelhoff, Tomma Lilli Mináriková, Tereza Molinari, Paolo Mouzon-Moyne, Lorane Moyne, Gilles Mysłajek, Robert W. Nowak, Sabina Ozolins, Janis Ryser, Andreas Sanaja, Bardh Shkvyria, Maryna Sin, Teodora Sindičić, Magda Slijepčević, Vedran Stauffer, Christian Tám, Branislav Trajce, Aleksander Volfová, Josefa Wölfl, Sybille Zlatanova, Diana Vogt, Kristina Cristescu, Bogdan Polish Ministry of Education and Science Key Laboratory of Engineering Dielectrics and Its Application (Harbin University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education LIFE programme 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297789 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297789 en eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLOS ONE volume 19, issue 3, page e0297789 ISSN 1932-6203 journal-article 2024 crplos https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297789 2024-05-01T06:56:52Z Rehabilitation of injured or immature individuals has become an increasingly used conservation and management tool. However, scientific evaluation of rehabilitations is rare, raising concern about post-release welfare as well as the cost-effectiveness of spending scarce financial resources. Over the past 20 years, events of juvenile Eurasian lynx presumably orphaned have been observed in many European lynx populations. To guide the management of orphaned lynx, we documented survival, rehabilitation and fate after the release and evaluated the potential relevance of lynx orphan rehabilitation for population management and conservation implications. Data on 320 orphaned lynx was collected from 1975 to 2022 from 13 countries and nine populations. The majority of orphaned lynx (55%) were taken to rehabilitation centres or other enclosures. A total of 66 orphans were released back to nature. The portion of rehabilitated lynx who survived at least one year after release was 0.66. Release location was the best predictor for their survival. Of the 66 released lynx, ten have reproduced at least once (8 females and 2 males). Conservation implications of rehabilitation programmes include managing genetic diversity in small, isolated populations and reintroducing species to historical habitats. The lynx is a perfect model species as most reintroduced populations in Central Europe show significantly lower observed heterozygosity than most of the autochthonous populations, indicating that reintroduction bottlenecks, isolation and post-release management have long-term consequences on the genetic composition of populations. The release of translocated orphans could be a valuable contribution to Eurasian lynx conservation in Europe. It is recommended to release orphans at the distribution edge or in the frame of reintroduction projects instead of a release in the core area of a population where it is not necessary from a demographic and genetic point of view. Rehabilitation programmes can have conservation implications that ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Lynx Lynx lynx lynx PLOS PLOS ONE 19 3 e0297789 |
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PLOS |
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crplos |
language |
English |
description |
Rehabilitation of injured or immature individuals has become an increasingly used conservation and management tool. However, scientific evaluation of rehabilitations is rare, raising concern about post-release welfare as well as the cost-effectiveness of spending scarce financial resources. Over the past 20 years, events of juvenile Eurasian lynx presumably orphaned have been observed in many European lynx populations. To guide the management of orphaned lynx, we documented survival, rehabilitation and fate after the release and evaluated the potential relevance of lynx orphan rehabilitation for population management and conservation implications. Data on 320 orphaned lynx was collected from 1975 to 2022 from 13 countries and nine populations. The majority of orphaned lynx (55%) were taken to rehabilitation centres or other enclosures. A total of 66 orphans were released back to nature. The portion of rehabilitated lynx who survived at least one year after release was 0.66. Release location was the best predictor for their survival. Of the 66 released lynx, ten have reproduced at least once (8 females and 2 males). Conservation implications of rehabilitation programmes include managing genetic diversity in small, isolated populations and reintroducing species to historical habitats. The lynx is a perfect model species as most reintroduced populations in Central Europe show significantly lower observed heterozygosity than most of the autochthonous populations, indicating that reintroduction bottlenecks, isolation and post-release management have long-term consequences on the genetic composition of populations. The release of translocated orphans could be a valuable contribution to Eurasian lynx conservation in Europe. It is recommended to release orphans at the distribution edge or in the frame of reintroduction projects instead of a release in the core area of a population where it is not necessary from a demographic and genetic point of view. Rehabilitation programmes can have conservation implications that ... |
author2 |
Cristescu, Bogdan Polish Ministry of Education and Science Key Laboratory of Engineering Dielectrics and Its Application (Harbin University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education LIFE programme |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Molinari-Jobin, Anja Zimmermann, Fridolin Borel, Stéphanie Le Grand, Luc Iannino, Elena Anders, Ole Belotti, Elisa Bufka, Ludek Ćirović, Duško Drouet-Hoguet, Nolwenn Engleder, Thomas Figura, Michał Fuxjäger, Christian Gregorova, Eva Heurich, Marco Idelberger, Sylvia Kubala, Jakub Kusak, Josip Melovski, Dime Middelhoff, Tomma Lilli Mináriková, Tereza Molinari, Paolo Mouzon-Moyne, Lorane Moyne, Gilles Mysłajek, Robert W. Nowak, Sabina Ozolins, Janis Ryser, Andreas Sanaja, Bardh Shkvyria, Maryna Sin, Teodora Sindičić, Magda Slijepčević, Vedran Stauffer, Christian Tám, Branislav Trajce, Aleksander Volfová, Josefa Wölfl, Sybille Zlatanova, Diana Vogt, Kristina |
spellingShingle |
Molinari-Jobin, Anja Zimmermann, Fridolin Borel, Stéphanie Le Grand, Luc Iannino, Elena Anders, Ole Belotti, Elisa Bufka, Ludek Ćirović, Duško Drouet-Hoguet, Nolwenn Engleder, Thomas Figura, Michał Fuxjäger, Christian Gregorova, Eva Heurich, Marco Idelberger, Sylvia Kubala, Jakub Kusak, Josip Melovski, Dime Middelhoff, Tomma Lilli Mináriková, Tereza Molinari, Paolo Mouzon-Moyne, Lorane Moyne, Gilles Mysłajek, Robert W. Nowak, Sabina Ozolins, Janis Ryser, Andreas Sanaja, Bardh Shkvyria, Maryna Sin, Teodora Sindičić, Magda Slijepčević, Vedran Stauffer, Christian Tám, Branislav Trajce, Aleksander Volfová, Josefa Wölfl, Sybille Zlatanova, Diana Vogt, Kristina Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation |
author_facet |
Molinari-Jobin, Anja Zimmermann, Fridolin Borel, Stéphanie Le Grand, Luc Iannino, Elena Anders, Ole Belotti, Elisa Bufka, Ludek Ćirović, Duško Drouet-Hoguet, Nolwenn Engleder, Thomas Figura, Michał Fuxjäger, Christian Gregorova, Eva Heurich, Marco Idelberger, Sylvia Kubala, Jakub Kusak, Josip Melovski, Dime Middelhoff, Tomma Lilli Mináriková, Tereza Molinari, Paolo Mouzon-Moyne, Lorane Moyne, Gilles Mysłajek, Robert W. Nowak, Sabina Ozolins, Janis Ryser, Andreas Sanaja, Bardh Shkvyria, Maryna Sin, Teodora Sindičić, Magda Slijepčević, Vedran Stauffer, Christian Tám, Branislav Trajce, Aleksander Volfová, Josefa Wölfl, Sybille Zlatanova, Diana Vogt, Kristina |
author_sort |
Molinari-Jobin, Anja |
title |
Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation |
title_short |
Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation |
title_full |
Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation |
title_fullStr |
Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation |
title_sort |
rehabilitation and release of orphaned eurasian lynx (lynx lynx) in europe: implications for management and conservation |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297789 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297789 |
genre |
Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
genre_facet |
Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
op_source |
PLOS ONE volume 19, issue 3, page e0297789 ISSN 1932-6203 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297789 |
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PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
e0297789 |
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1799468693672951808 |