By the middle of the 19th century, lynxes had completely disappeared from Bavaria. It is due to an approved release of 17 lynxes (between 1982-1987) in the area of today’s Šumava National Park that lynxes again populate the Bavarian-Bohemian border area. The two national parks (Bavarian Forest and Šumava) currently represent the core lynx habitat, and the centre from which the animals are spreading to new areas.

Although the return of lynxes is widely welcomed among much of the population, but it also brings a potential for conflicts. It may be true that we know much about the prey of an individual lynx, but so far little is known about their effect on roe deer and red deer populations. Similarly, we have conflicting reports on how the presence of lynxes affects human hunting activities.

The arguments coming from the various lobbies involved are based, in most cases, on assumptions and on the observation of individual animals. However, there are hardly any substantiated findings on the effect of lynxes on the population of their prey. Yet, the predator-prey-relationships between lynxes, roe deer and red deer are of central importance to the general acceptance of lynxes, and hence to the continued existence of the East Bavarian-Bohemian lynx population.

It is the priority objective of our project to collect current data on lynxes and their use of territory, and on the relationship between the predator and its large animals of prey – roe and red deer – within a large mountain forest ecosystem left mainly to nature. The data collection will to be carried out with the assistance of the latest communication technology in accordance with animal protection laws, and without disturbing the animals in their natural habitat.