SPATIAL-ORGANIZATION AND RECRUITMENT OF LYNX (LYNX-LYNX) IN A RE-INTRODUCED POPULATION IN THE SWISS JURA MOUNTAINS

We monitored seven resident (three males and four females) and six dispersing subadult Eurasian lynx from 1988 to 1991 in a population that was re-introduced to the Swiss Jura Mountains in the early 1970s. Home-range areas of the neighbouring adults were 71-281 km(2), and significant core areas 34-252 km(2). Males occupied significantly larger areas than females. Home-range overlap was 9% for neighbouring males and 3% for females. Core areas of males did touch, but those of females were clearly separated. Each male's home range covered those of one or two females. Population density was 0.94 lynx/100 km(2) for resident animals. Pre-dispersal mortality was estimated to be 50%. Juveniles dispersed from their mothers' home area at the age of 10 months. Of six monitored subadults. only one survived the first year of independence. Human-caused mortality (traffic accidents, illegal killing) was high. This was also the case among resident adults. This might be a threat to the long-term survival of the re-introduced population.