IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Thueler, K. | |
| Spatial and temporal distribution of coat patterns of Eurasion lynx (Lynx lynx) in two re-introduced populations in Switzerland | |
| 2002 Full Book | |
Lynx had become extinct throughout most of Central and Western Europe at the end of the 19th century. This was also the case for Switzerland. However, in 1971 the Eurasian lynx was reintroduced into the Swiss Alps. Further re-introduction programs followed in the Swiss Jura Mts, Slovenia and Croatia. All animals released came from the same source population of the Carpathian Mts in Slovakia, and some of them have been closely related. As small, isolated populations are theoretically vulnerable to genetic drift, where alleles with low frequency are likely to disappear from the population gene pool, a change in the occurrence of different coat patterns can be an indication for this. In the recent population of the Swiss Alps a temporal change of the occurrence of different coat pattern types was found. Another possible indication is the loss of the non-spotted type in the Jura Mts population. In this study, a classification system for coat patterns in lynx was developed and five different coat patterns were defined: large spots, small spots, without spots, rosettes and small spots with rudimentary rosettes. The frequency of occurrence of these coat patterns was then compared between the two reintroduced populations in Switzerland and the source population in the Carpathian Mts of Slovakia and another re-introduced population in Slovenia/Croatia. Additionally coat patterns of historic lynx from Switzerland were analyzed. The dominant coat pattern type in the historic Swiss population was non-spotted and in recent populations large-spotted. Rosettes were found only recently. There existed a correlation between spatial and temporal distribution of the different coat pattern types. |
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