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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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0297789&type=printable |
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| author | Anja Molinari-Jobin Fridolin Zimmermann Stéphanie Borel Luc Le Grand Elena Iannino Ole Anders Elisa Belotti Ludek Bufka Duško Ćirović Nolwenn Drouet-Hoguet Thomas Engleder Michał Figura Christian Fuxjäger Eva Gregorova Marco Heurich Sylvia Idelberger Jakub Kubala Josip Kusak Dime Melovski Tomma Lilli Middelhoff Tereza Mináriková Paolo Molinari Lorane Mouzon-Moyne Gilles Moyne Robert W Mysłajek Sabina Nowak Janis Ozolins Andreas Ryser Bardh Sanaja Maryna Shkvyria Teodora Sin Magda Sindičić Vedran Slijepčević Christian Stauffer Branislav Tám Aleksander Trajce Josefa Volfová Sybille Wölfl Diana Zlatanova Kristina Vogt |
| author_facet | Anja Molinari-Jobin Fridolin Zimmermann Stéphanie Borel Luc Le Grand Elena Iannino Ole Anders Elisa Belotti Ludek Bufka Duško Ćirović Nolwenn Drouet-Hoguet Thomas Engleder Michał Figura Christian Fuxjäger Eva Gregorova Marco Heurich Sylvia Idelberger Jakub Kubala Josip Kusak Dime Melovski Tomma Lilli Middelhoff Tereza Mináriková Paolo Molinari Lorane Mouzon-Moyne Gilles Moyne Robert W Mysłajek Sabina Nowak Janis Ozolins Andreas Ryser Bardh Sanaja Maryna Shkvyria Teodora Sin Magda Sindičić Vedran Slijepčević Christian Stauffer Branislav Tám Aleksander Trajce Josefa Volfová Sybille Wölfl Diana Zlatanova Kristina Vogt |
| author_sort | Anja Molinari-Jobin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| 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 extend far beyond individual welfare benefits. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9c25e05ba9224b97a1e0295cdfd55a7d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-9c25e05ba9224b97a1e0295cdfd55a7d2025-01-24T05:31:09ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01193e029778910.1371/journal.pone.0297789Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation.Anja Molinari-JobinFridolin ZimmermannStéphanie BorelLuc Le GrandElena IanninoOle AndersElisa BelottiLudek BufkaDuško ĆirovićNolwenn Drouet-HoguetThomas EnglederMichał FiguraChristian FuxjägerEva GregorovaMarco HeurichSylvia IdelbergerJakub KubalaJosip KusakDime MelovskiTomma Lilli MiddelhoffTereza MinárikováPaolo MolinariLorane Mouzon-MoyneGilles MoyneRobert W MysłajekSabina NowakJanis OzolinsAndreas RyserBardh SanajaMaryna ShkvyriaTeodora SinMagda SindičićVedran SlijepčevićChristian StaufferBranislav TámAleksander TrajceJosefa VolfováSybille WölflDiana ZlatanovaKristina VogtRehabilitation 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 extend far beyond individual welfare benefits.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0297789&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Anja Molinari-Jobin Fridolin Zimmermann Stéphanie Borel Luc Le Grand Elena Iannino Ole Anders Elisa Belotti Ludek Bufka Duško Ćirović Nolwenn Drouet-Hoguet Thomas Engleder Michał Figura Christian Fuxjäger Eva Gregorova Marco Heurich Sylvia Idelberger Jakub Kubala Josip Kusak Dime Melovski Tomma Lilli Middelhoff Tereza Mináriková Paolo Molinari Lorane Mouzon-Moyne Gilles Moyne Robert W Mysłajek Sabina Nowak Janis Ozolins Andreas Ryser Bardh Sanaja Maryna Shkvyria Teodora Sin Magda Sindičić Vedran Slijepčević Christian Stauffer Branislav Tám Aleksander Trajce Josefa Volfová Sybille Wölfl Diana Zlatanova Kristina Vogt Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation. PLoS ONE |
| title | 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_short | 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 |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0297789&type=printable |
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