Macedonia wildcats fight for survival

[Orstio]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061105/ap_on_sc/apn_balkan_lynx

LESNICA, Macedonia - It's considered a national symbol, displayed on the back of Macedonia's 5-denar coin. But the Balkan lynx, the largest of European wildcats, is a very rare sight in the southern Balkans these days.

Conservationists say only about 100 remain scattered across the region, making it Europe's most endangered wildcat, and they're mounting an urgent effort to save it.

The cat roams the rugged hills of western Macedonia and is also found in parts of Montenegro, Albania, Serbia and Greece. Macedonia is home to the largest number, about 30 — not nearly enough to stave off extinction, experts fear.

Zdravko Moteski, a 70-year-old hunter from the western village of Lesnica, is helping researchers gather information about the elusive cat.

[Astronuc]

I am sure the local conflicts in Serbia and Kosovo didn't help, in conjunction with loss of habitat and encrochment of civilization, and perhaps poaching.

I love the Balkans and Rhodopian mountains.  That is a really cool part of the world.

[Orstio]

Lynxes are also fascinating animals.  About 12 years ago, the lynx fur farm industry seemed somewhat lucrative, so I did some research with some successful lynx farmers here in Canada.

Lynx reproduction is controlled in part by their diet.  If a lynx is eating mainly red meat, it is an indication that their main diet of rabbits and wild fowl is not readily available, and the lynxes actually become infertile during these periods.  As a result, lynx populations tend to fluctuate with the rabbit populations within a particular area.  They are very highly adapted to a specific diet, so their existence as a species in the wild becomes very fragile.

[Astronuc]

That's what I understood.

We are having a boom in rabbits and chipmunks around my area.  We had two or three rabbits this year, where we might see one occassionally.  I would love to see a lynx in our yard, well, I'd love to see bears too. 

[remcook]

I've heard that the Lynx is slowly spreading into northern Europe and might even come to the Netherlands!

[Orstio]

Awesome, Rem.  I hope you get to see some in the wild.

The other fascinating feature of the lynx are its ears.  The "tuft" of hairs on the tips of the ears are actually not normal hair, they are more like the cillia (sp?) in the inner ear.  They are each connected by nerves to the cat's hearing center in the brain.  So, they can actually hear subtle sounds like the heartbeat of a rabbit from a remarkable distance.

In the past, zoos and fur farms would practice removing of these hairs, because the animals are calmer and easier to handle without them.  Like the cillia of the inner ear, these hairs do not regrow once damaged.

[Astronuc]

Awesome, Rem.  I hope you get to see some in the wild.

The other fascinating feature of the lynx are its ears.  The "tuft" of hairs on the tips of the ears are actually not normal hair, they are more like the cillia (sp?) in the inner ear.  They are each connected by nerves to the cat's hearing center in the brain.  So, they can actually hear subtle sounds like the heartbeat of a rabbit from a remarkable distance.

  That's why I let the hair in my ears grow - the better to hear you with.