Looking through the pictures made with camera traps in National park "Land of the Leopard", scientists found interesting shots: a camera shot a lynx. The last time this cat was officially fixed at the south of Primorye was in 2012.
According to the scientific data, the lynx areal includes the south-west part of Primorsky Krai. Earlier footprints of this cat were seen in the forests of Khasan district, local residents reported that they had seen it, but the latest official confirmation of its its presence in this area were pictures made with camera traps of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in 2012. At the same time, the low number of lynx in the south of the region is not surprising since this predator is a direct food competitor of the Amur leopard.
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But this time despite the competition a lynx was shot with a camera trap at the south of the region in the area of the leopard. And next pictures made with the same camera trap have only confirmed this fact: during the next few weeks the camera made pictures not only of a lynx, but also of a leopard and of a tiger!
"Now we can say with full confidence that all the 4 wildcats of Primorye - the leopard, the tiger, the Far-Eastern leopard cat and finally the lynx live in our national park, - says Elena Salmanova, deputy director for science and ecological education of FSBI "Land of the Leopard". - And based on the fact that this camera is far in the south of the region, it is clear that the lynx is a resident here, and hence could have hardly got there by accident".
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According to scientists, the appearance of a lynx in this area primarily indicates the absence of feeding problems. Biological activities such as feeding ungulates, as well as good protection of the territory of the National Park helped to increase the population of deer and other herbivores. In turn, this led to a reduction of competition between cats.
"We should not fear that the lynx will be able to push out the Amur leopard of these places. The leopard is bigger and stronger than the lynx and, therefore it has more chances to get food. Therefore, the appearance of a "new" cat here - only proves that these two species have the opportunity to share food with each other ", - says Elena.
Photo: FSBI "Land of the Leopard"