Bojnice lynx (source: TASR)
A YOUNG lynx, only one year old, underwent rehabilitation in the Bojnice zoo. He had lived in the wild previously and was to be released after the treatment ended. The lynx was found injured when very young, and was cured in the zoo.
On September 9, the animal was set free in the nearby Štiavnické vrchy mountain range, but collapsed and died soon afterwards.
“This happened in spite of a highly professional preparation, involving top Slovak and European experts,” deputy head of Bojnice zoo Vladimír Šrank informed the TASR newswire. “Shortly after being released in the appointed environment, Štiavnické vrchy, the lynx collapsed and died. The autopsy then showed that the cause of death was a combination of a genetic defect of (the) circulatory system and stress that wild animals experience when transported and released.”
Šrank added that according to the autopsy, it was not possible to detect the defect with ordinary veterinary examinations which the animal underwent during the rehab.
After the release, the lynx should have been monitored by environmentalists in order to monitor this precious endangered species. He was given a special telemetric collar through which they planned to follow the lynx for about a year thanks to GPS. Environmentalists wanted to use the collar, made in Germany, to also watch other predators – bears and wolves, as well as red deer and roe-deer.
