Lynxes Are Nearing Extinction

According to new numbers, lynx populations in the Balkans are teetering on the brink of extinction, threatened by poaching, tree cutting and an overall lack of food. Although they are iconic to some regions, it's the same people that like them who kill them, especially for their wonderful fur, which is highly-valued. It's because of such petty interests that beautiful animals end up being wiped out altogether from their original habitats, even if other countries make desperate efforts to stop this phenomenon.

In Macedonia, for example, it's estimated that only a number of approximately 100 lynxes still exist, one that is considered catastrophic, when thinking about the thousands living here just one or two centuries ago. And also keep in mind that the wild cat doesn't have any natural predators. It's only humans that kill it, and only for fur. Some farmers say that the cats attack their livestock and are therefore a threat, but actual reports show that only 4 attacks have occurred in several decades, and that minimal damages have been recorded.

The lynxes regularly feed on rabbits, roe deer, and the mountain goat-like chamois. They never attack humans and prefer escaping rather than face them. Still, they are mercilessly hunted by poachers, who are encouraged by the fact that, thus far, authorities have never prosecuted anyone for killing a wild cat. The punishment for this act is officially up to 8 years in prison, but illegal hunters kill lynxes following their whim, with the police intentionally doing nothing about this.

Altogether, in Albania and Macedonia some 80 to 100 specimens endure, even though local environmentalists say that there are more like 40 of them. In neighboring countries such as Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, estimates are even worse, with 5 to 20 individuals still living. Dispersed over such a large surface, continually hunted and scattered on the plains after extensive forest cuts, the lynxes have a faith unfortunately sealed in their own birthplace.

Fortuitously, people with a consciousness still exist in some Western European countries, and they encourage protection programs, raising lynxes inside natural reserves, far away from poachers' reach, and protected by armed guards. Throughout the Carpathian mountains, in countries such as Slovakia and Romania, populations have fully recovered. The same success has been recorded in the Baltic nations and in Scandinavia.