51 ACTA BIOLOGICA SLOVENICA LJUBLJANA 2006 Vol. 49, [t. 1: 51–52 Sprejeto (accepted): 2007-01-29 Present status and distribution of the lynx in the German Alps 2000–2004 Status in razširjenost risa v Nemških Alpah 2000–2004 Manfred WÖLFL Naturpark Bayerischer Wald e.V. and Landesamt für Umwelt; Trailling 1a, D – 93462 Lam, Germany; e-mail: woelfl @i3c.com Abstract: The short survey of monitoring Lynx lynx in German Alps was reported. Keywords: Lynx lynx, German Alps, monitoring Introduction In spite of some reports and rumours lynx presence in the German part of the Alps could not be con- fi rmed during the last decade (KACZENSKY 1998, WÖLFL & KACZENSKY 2001, VON ARX & al. 2004). Results For the period 2000 until 2004 some fi ndings were reported as well. In May 2003 a female lynx one year old escaped from the Zoo in Innsbruck, Austria and could be observed some times afterwards in the Lower Inn Valley (LAASS, pers. communication). Unconfi rmed observations have been reported before that escape in parts of the Karwendel and the Tannheimer Tal (ULLRICH, pers. communication). During the period we have several rumours from the Western part of the German Alps, the Allgäu. However, most of the reported kills were not documented. In October 2003 a dead roe deer has been examined near Oberstaufen in the Allgäu and judged as a lynx kill by a trained person (Fig. 1). How- ever, photos taken did not give a clear picture. Conclusion Apart from some rumours we still miss confi rmed lynx presence stemming from wild animals. Therefore Germany will try to enforce a network of skilled people and judging and documenting pos- sible lynx evidence, according to the actions proposed in the PACS (Panalpine Strategy for the Lynx; MOLINARI-JOBIN & al. 2003). In a fi rst step, during a meeting of the Bavarian professional hunters’ association in May 2006, 80 hunters mainly from the Alpine region have been informed about lynx ecology and signs of presence (tracks, kills, scats). In a technical paper the Bavarian Nature conservation agency (Landesamt für Umwelt) describes the German Alps as suitable lynx habitat (Landesamt für Umwelt, in preparation). Within the next few months a regional working platform of various interest groups will be formed mainly focussing on monitoring efforts in the beginning. Acta Biologica Slovenica, 49 (1), 200652 Another step will be the organization of a SCALP core group meeting in 2007 in the Bavarian Alps probably linked with a session of the above mentioned regional working group. References MOLINARI-JOBIN, A., P. MOLINARI, C. BREITENMOSER-WÜRSTEN, M. WOELFL, C. STANISA, M. FASEL, P. STAHL, J.M. VANDEL, L. ROTELLI, P. KACZENSKY, T. HUBER, M. ADAMIC, I. KOREN & U. BREITENMOSER 2003: Pan-Alpine Conservation Strategy for the Lynx. Nature and environment 130, Council of Europe Publishing, 20 pp. KACZENSKY, P., 1998: Present status and distribution of the lynx in the German Alps. Hystrix 10(1):39–42. WÖLFL, M. & P. KACZENSKY 2001: Present status and distribution of the lynx in the German Alps. Hysterix 12(2):39–41. VON ARX M., C. BREITENMOSER-WÜRSTEN, F. ZIMMERMANN & U. BREITENMOSER 2004: Status and conser- vation of the Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe in 2001. KORA report Nr. 19: 1–330. Fig. 1: Map of the German Alps with some places mentioned in the text and the site of the roe deer killed by lynx (black dot). 53 ACTA BIOLOGICA SLOVENICA LJUBLJANA 2006 Vol. 49, [t. 1: 53–54 Sprejeto (accepted): 2006-12-28 The lynx in Liechtenstein Ris v Liechtensteinu Michael FASEL Amt für Wald, Natur und Landschaft, FL 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein; e-mail: michael.fasel@awnl.llv.li Abstract: The only observation of Lynx lynx in the last decade in Liechtenstein was re- ported. Keywords: Lynx lynx, Liechtenstein, monitoring The observations of one lynx (Fig. 1) in January 2004 and one in January 2005 have still been the only data of lynx in Liechtenstein since their extinction about one hundred years ago and since the last SCALP status report published (FASEL 2001). The locality of the observations, the forest of the village Schaanwald, near the border to Vorarlberg/Austria, is very near to possible observations in Vorarlberg (LAASS & al. this issue). It may be the same animal or animals. Suspecting that the observation might be related to a radio-collared lynx translocated to eastern Switzerland (RYSER & al. 2004), the area of the observations was examined for radio-signals, but with no success. In addition, several samples of excrements have been examined, but they all originated from dogs or foxes. The same result was found with several roe deer and chamois remains found in the forest and suspected to be lynx kills. We expect immigration of lynx from neighbouring Switzerland to happen in the near future, as Liechtenstein is only separated from the North-Eastern Swiss occurrence by the river Rhine. Experts suppose that the Rhine valley is to be easily crossed by lynx. Foresters and hunters are informed about the situation. They keep an eye on possible tracks of lynx and will report them to the local authority. References FASEL, M. 2001: The lynx in Liechtenstein. Hystrix 12(2): 29. LAASS, J., Ch. FUXJÄGER, T. HUBER & N. GERSTL this issue: Lynx in the Austrian Alps 2000 to 2004. RYSER, A., K. VON WATTENWYL,M.P. RYSER-DEGIORGIS, Ch. WILLISCH, F. ZIMMERMANN & U. BREITENMOSER 2004: Luchsumsiedlung Nordostschweiz 2001–2003, Schlussbericht Modul Luchs des Projektes LUNO. KORA Bericht 22d, Bern, Schweiz, 60pp. (in German). Acta Biologica Slovenica, 49 (1), 200654 Fig. 1: Location of the only direct observation of a lynx in Liechtenstein during the fi ve-year period 2000-2004 (black line = international boundary, grey = lakes, grey line = Rhine river). The land use data is from CORINE (European Topic Centre on Land Cover, Environment Satellite Data Center, Kiruna, Sweden), which classifi es the land use types on a 250x250-m grid.