Lynx Triplets Emerge at Highland Wildlife Park
September 15, 2016
A trio of adorable Northern Lynx cubs can be seen with their parents at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park.
The ‘purr-fect’ cubs were born on May 26. They spent the first couple of months safely tucked in their den and have now started to wander out to explore their large outdoor enclosure.
The cubs were born to mum, Dimma, and father, Switch. They are the fifth consecutive litter of cubs reared by the Lynx pair. The cubs from previous years have moved on to other zoological collections as part of a coordinated breeding programme.
Vickie Larkin, Carnivore Team Leader at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park, shared, “We are incredibly pleased to have had Lynx cubs again this year. The cubs are doing well and are extremely playful. Dimma and Switch arrived at the Park in 2012 and have had a litter of cubs every year since their arrival, which is testament to the team’s husbandry experience as well as their spacious enclosure.”
Photo Credits: RZSS/Alex Riddell
The adorable feline trio can be seen playing and tumbling about their enclosure at the Park. Whilst initially nervous when they first left their den, they have become more confidant and have been adventurously exploring and playing in their enclosure.
RZSS Highland Wildlife Park's Lynx are part of the European Zoo Association's coordinated breeding programme and, although overall the species is not endangered, it had become locally extinct in many areas across Europe, resulting in some sub-populations being considered as endangered or even critically endangered. The Lynx was formerly native to the UK, until possibly as late as the Middle Ages.
Loss of habitat, reduced prey availability and hunting are the biggest threats to wild Lynx populations. There have been a number of successful Lynx reintroduction projects within Europe, including in Switzerland and France. RZSS is part of the National Species Reintroduction Forum’s Lynx Working Group, which ensures that Lynx reintroduction proposals are assessed in a fair, balanced and evidence-based fashion.
The Northern Lynx is one of a number of subspecies of Eurasian Lynx. The Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) is a medium-sized cat native to Siberia, Central, East, and Southern Asia, North, Central and Eastern Europe. It has been listed as “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List. At present, it is widely distributed, and most populations are considered stable.