Monitoring_Lynx-lynx-carpathicus

3. Výsledky zo západných Karpát / Results from the Western Carpathians________________________________________________________________________________________Lynx occurrence in northern HungaryADAM SZABÓ & GYÖRGY PÁL GADÓFoundation for Large Carnivores in Hungary, Vívó u.3/c, 1163, Budapest, Hungary; gado.gyorgy@chello.huFirst I would like to give you a realistic view aboutthe status of Eurasian lynx in Hungary. Of course Ienvy the system of monitoring developed not onlyin Switzerland but also growing more and more inSlovakia. We must learn scientific methods ofmonitoring with the use of camera traps, but it isclear that we are in a quite different situation.Lynx in Hungary are at the periphery of theCarpathian population. Their abundance will neverbe comparable to numbers in Slovakia, althoughthe current status is much lower than potentiallynx habitats could allow.Brief historyUntil the end of the 19 th century the lynxpopulation in present-day Hungary, as an organicpart of the Carpathian population, was also stable.Then in the 20 th century, similarly to the trend inEurope, the number of lynx decreased rapidly.After the Second World War the species wasofficially declared extinct, although we think therewere probably some individuals hidden in theforests. The official nature conservation authorityconsidered there to be no need to collect data onan extinct species so there is a gap in the literatureof several decades.In the 1980s, possibly even in the 1970s, lynxreappeared in northeast Hungary. We know thisonly from an increasing number of illegal killings.Some of them were confirmed but in the beginningone could only hear stories in village pubs.Transboundary corridorsNow we know that the return of the species isin close connection with the growing number oflynx in Slovakia. Three probable corridors by whichlynx came to Hungary are known: Štiavnica Mts. –Börzsöny, Slovak Karst – Aggtelek and Slanské Mts.– Zemplén Mts. In Aggtelek and Zemplén thepresence of lynx has been almost continuous in thepast three decades. In Börzsöny a colleague, LászlóDarányi, has been tracking lynx, probably a singleindividual.FieldworkIn Aggtelek National Park and ZemplénProtected Landscape Area we follow lynx trackswith diverse methods (Fig. 1). Circumstances arenot always favourable, for example sometimesthere is no car available so we also use a horse orskis during the year.Monitoring networkFortunately we are not alone in collecting data:we have a network of experts with regularmeetings to unify methods. We use camera trapsin Hungary but the number and quality of picturesare not sufficient for individual identification.Education and communicationAcceptance of lynx is a little better than that ofwolves but it is still influenced by strong prejudices.It is important to work with school children but themost urgent task is to change hunters’ attitudes.If we consider the present situation we can findpotential lynx habitats in the whole NorthernMountain Range, from the Danube to Zemplén.The main reason that the species does not inhabitthis area is poaching. Monitoring is important butwe will not obtain much better results if we cannotprevent illegal hunting.Finally I would like to say how fortunate I am tohave found a man who inspired me to researchlynx. Štefan Zatroch lives in a different nationalpark and a different country but he has helped meenormously to understand lynx behaviour. I amglad we can participate in this seminar together.________________________________________________________________________________________Monitoring Lynx lynx carpathicus, Rigg & Kubala (2015) 59