Lynx Bardi crosses Czechia from south to north in record-breaking journey
A two-year-old lynx named Bardi has completed what experts say is the longest lynx migration ever recorded in Czechia. The young male travelled from the Šumava region in the far south of the country all the way to the German side of the Krušné Hory Mountains in the north, covering at least 160 kilometres in a straight line.
Bardi was born in 2024 near the village of Hartmanice in western Šumava as one of three cubs of a female lynx named Surya, a well-known specimen that conservationists in the area have monitored for several years and through multiple litters. Elisa Belotti of Šumava National Park explains:
“This time she had three kittens, and one of them was the young male Bardi. We recorded the whole family together until around the end of February 2025.
“As usual, the young lynx then go their own way. Some stay around for a while, others leave immediately. Males are generally more adventurous than females. They tend to leave earlier and travel farther.”
Even so, experts were stunned when Bardi began appearing on wildlife camera traps near the Saxon town of Eibenstock in February this year. Until then, there had been no confirmed sightings of him since the summer of 2025, when he was photographed in western Czechia east of Plzeň. Exactly how he reached the Krušné Hory Mountains remains a mystery.
“Our best guess is that he probably travelled through forests along the border areas connecting Český les [a forested region on the Czech-German border in the west of the country] with the Krušné Hory Mountains, but we have no proof of that.
“It could theoretically be possible that he took another way and that he went through the inner part of the Czech Republic and through the Doupov Mountains. But we don’t know.”
Belotti points out that the 160 kilometres only represents the direct distance between where Bardi was born and where he was eventually recorded again. In reality, the shy predator almost certainly travelled hundreds of kilometres over the course of a year.
Whatever route he took, experts say it is almost a miracle that he managed to cross the country unharmed. Along the way he likely had to navigate major roads, highways and railways. However, Elisa Belotti says animals also face less visible obstacles.
“Sometimes an area may be perfectly suitable for lynx, but even one person living there can create a problem if they do not want lynx in the area. Illegal killings still happen.
“A lynx needs a very large territory, maybe two or three hundred square kilometres, so one hostile person can have a big impact.”
According to Belotti, young male lynxes often travel farther than females, possibly as a natural mechanism to reduce the chances of related animals mating with one another. Still, journeys like Bardi’s are exceptionally rare.
“All lynx leave their natal area because they need to find a suitable territory of their own. They are territorial animals and cannot stay where another adult lynx of the same sex already lives.
“Usually they find a suitable place somewhere at the edge of the population and settle there. They do not normally travel through large areas where no lynx are present.”
The Eurasian lynx, Europe’s largest wild cat, is highly endangered in Czechia. Its strongest population is found in the Bohemian-Bavarian-Austrian border region. According to Belotti, the population is doing relatively well by Central European standards, although it is still far from secure.
“Every year we use camera traps to monitor the population. Each lynx has a unique coat pattern, so individuals can be identified.
“In general, there are around 110 to 140 lynx older than one year in the population. Around 30 to 35 females have kittens each year, and around 60 to 70 kittens are born annually. But kitten mortality is very high, and only some survive their first year.”
Bardi’s journey could also help strengthen the small lynx population now forming in the Krušné Hory Mountains and neighbouring Saxony, where conservationists have been reintroducing lynxes in recent years.
“There are just a few individuals living stably in the Krušné Hory and Saxon area. They come from a new reintroduction project that started in 2022.
“As far as I know, there are two females living there permanently plus a couple of males. And we know that Bardi reached the territory of one of these females. So, of course, he will have some competition from other males. But it's possible and everyone hopes that he will settle there.
“Of course, it would help the reintroduction project to establish a healthy population and to have some more genetic variation because Bardi comes from another population. But it's up to him.”
Experts from Hnutí Duha, which monitors the lynx population in the Krušné Hory Mountains, say the area could provide an ideal new home for Bardi, with large forested areas and plenty of prey such as roe deer and red deer. Camera traps showed he was still there at the end of April. Whether he succeeds in settling down and finding a mate, however, remains to be seen.
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