Citizen Scientists Showed a Four-Fold Increase of Lynx Numbers in Lithuania

Abstract

By the early 2000s, Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) were nearly extirpated in Lithuania. To determine their status, we used snow-track counts in 2006–2012 and volunteer monitoring in 1999–2005 and 2015–2018. Using simple questionnaires, we collected incidental observations from hunters, foresters, and other interested citizens to estimate lynx distribution, abundance and extent of breeding. Citizen scientists provided 206 reports of 278 individual lynx that suggested expanding lynx distributions in central, western, southwestern, and southern parts of Lithuania. A decrease in range fragmentation has also been observed since 2015. Nationwide, the lynx population quadrupled from 2010 to 162 individuals in 2018. The number of breeding individuals reported was just seven in both 2007 and 2008, limited to two forests in the very north and central part of the country. This increased to 46 in 2015–2018. Our results indicate that the lynx population in Lithuania has increased and its conservation status should be reconsidered.

The Role of Mustelids in the Transmission of Sarcocystis spp. Using Cattle as Intermediate Hosts

“…The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is the only wild member of the felids in Lithuania [9]. However, this species is not abundant and there were approximately 160 lynx individuals in Lithuania in 2018 [20]. Thus, the high prevalence of S. bovifelis implies that it is not solely felids that contribute to the spread of this species.…”

Roadkills as a Method to Monitor Raccoon Dog Populations

“…For Lithuania, we considered the possibility of direct counts by hunters and citizen scientists, but such counts would require intensive concerted action by many hunting clubs in order to obtain non-biased and robust number estimation, as observations should be done at the same time to avoid data overlapping. Our experience of using hunters for large carnivore monitoring showed that coverage of the entire country’s territory was not possible even for key species such as the wolf and lynx [ 39 , 40 ].…”

Mammal Status: Diversity, Abundance and Dynamics: An Editorial

“…The aim of the Editorial is to introduce the Special Issue, "Mammal Status: Diversity, Abundance and Dynamics", which includes six papers from Europe [1][2][3][4][5][6], three of these representing Baltic countries [4][5][6], two papers from Asia [7,8] and one from South America [9]. Four papers deal with carnivores (the snow leopard, gray wolf, Eurasian lynx, and Eurasian otter), two with ungulates (moose and Andean tapir), two with small mammals (including the endangered European ground squirrel), and one with the wide mammal complex, including many small and medium carnivores in Indonesia.…”

“…Two other papers in the book relate to carnivore species no longer significantly endangered, at least on the European scale [1,5]. In Italy, an analysis of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) living at the northernmost limit of its range, suggested that the current population is larger than the minimum viable population size [1].…”

“…In Italy, an analysis of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) living at the northernmost limit of its range, suggested that the current population is larger than the minimum viable population size [1]. Analysis of the long-term trends of the distribution and numbers of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Lithuania, which employed the use of citizen scientists within its method, indicated a population increase, and the need to reconsider the species' conservation status [5].…”