Extra-territorial excursions of Eurasian lynx ( <i>Lynx lynx</i> ) during the mating season across Europe

Extra-territorial mating excursions (i.e. short-term movements beyond established home ranges to seek mating opportunities) represent an underexplored reproductive strategy in felids. Using telemetry data from 125 Eurasian lynx (172 lynx-years, 1995-2023) across Europe, we investigated sex-specific spatio-temporal patterns and drivers of these excursions during the mating season. Overall, 33% of males and 11% of females undertook excursions, with males having higher rates than females. Male excursions mostly occurred in March, coinciding with the peak of the conception period, while females tended to undertake excursions either before or after this peak. The median Euclidean distance travelled beyond the home range was 6.8 km for males and 2.6 km for females, with corresponding median durations of 119 h and 85 h, respectively. Translocated individuals exhibited higher excursion rates than those in established populations, suggesting mate-searching in novel environments. We found no evidence that human influences affected excursion rates or distances. Our findings highlight a mating tactic that is often overlooked and provide new insight into sex-specific and context-dependent movement strategies in Eurasian lynx. By linking extra-territorial excursions to reproduction patterns, our study informs future research on mate-searching behaviour in felids and offers implications for conservation planning, particularly in isolated or reintroduced populations.

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Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Published
2026-01-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.2235
Primary Topic
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Extra-territorial excursions of Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ) during the mating season across Europe

Raido Kont, Teresa Oliveira, Jakub Kubala, Aleksander Trajbarič et al.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
article

Extra-territorial excursions of Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ) during the mating season across Europe

Raido Kont, Teresa Oliveira, Jakub Kubala, Aleksander Trajbarič, Jakub Skorupski, Jens Persson, Magdalena Tracz, Ole Anders, Henrik Andrén, Sabina Nowak, Marcin Grzegorzek, Tomma Lilli Middelhoff, Maciej Tracz, Rok Černe, Michał Figura, Aivars Ornicāns, Jenny Mattisson, Robert W. Mysłajek, Branislav Tám, John Oddén, Ira Topličanec, Darja Slana, Anja Molinari-Jobin, Lan Hočevar, S. Kramer-Schadt, Rafał Kowalczyk, Elisa Belotti, Malin Aronsson, Marco Heurich, Roksana Baryło, John D. C. Linnell, Yutong Liang, Sarah Bauduin, Luděk Bufka, Jean-Michel Vandel, Tomislav Gomerčić, Henryk Okarma, Dime Melovski, Martin Duľa, Miroslav Kutal, Krzysztof Schmidt, Urša Fležar, Jarmila Krojerová-Prokešová, Joe Premier, Miha Krofel
article en

Abstract

Extra-territorial mating excursions (i.e. short-term movements beyond established home ranges to seek mating opportunities) represent an underexplored reproductive strategy in felids. Using telemetry data from 125 Eurasian lynx (172 lynx-years, 1995-2023) across Europe, we investigated sex-specific spatio-temporal patterns and drivers of these excursions during the mating season. Overall, 33% of males and 11% of females undertook excursions, with males having higher rates than females. Male excursions mostly occurred in March, coinciding with the peak of the conception period, while females tended to undertake excursions either before or after this peak. The median Euclidean distance travelled beyond the home range was 6.8 km for males and 2.6 km for females, with corresponding median durations of 119 h and 85 h, respectively. Translocated individuals exhibited higher excursion rates than those in established populations, suggesting mate-searching in novel environments. We found no evidence that human influences affected excursion rates or distances. Our findings highlight a mating tactic that is often overlooked and provide new insight into sex-specific and context-dependent movement strategies in Eurasian lynx. By linking extra-territorial excursions to reproduction patterns, our study informs future research on mate-searching behaviour in felids and offers implications for conservation planning, particularly in isolated or reintroduced populations.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological SciencesVol. 293(2063)
University of Szczecin (PL), National Park Service (US), US Forest Service (US), University of Ljubljana (SI), University of Freiburg (DE), Ecological Society of America (US), University of Zagreb (HR), Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZ), Bavarian Forest National Park (DE), Mammal Research Institute (PL), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), Friends United (US), Akademia Techniczno-Artystyczna Nauk Stosowanych w Warszawie (PL), Institute of Nature Management (BY), Technická univerzita vo Zvolene (SK), French National Agency for Water and Aquatic Environments (FR), State Forest Research Institute (IN), National Zoological Park (US), University of Inland Norway (NO), Institute of Nature Conservation (PL), Latvian State Forest Research Institute "Silava" (LV), Šumava National Park (CZ), Fondation Pour la Recherche Sur la Biodiversité (FR), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NO), Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (DE), Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (JO), Technische Universität Berlin (DE), University of Warsaw (PL), Mendel University in Brno (CZ), University of Tartu (EE), Instituto Piaget (PT)
Norges Forskningsråd, Nature, Interreg
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 78%
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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