Decin Zoo has a lynx kitten!

It has been quite a while since keepers at Decin Zoo have had occasion to celebrate the birth of a lynx. But now, after five long years, the zoo has a new kitten. The pause was due to a 2020 decision by the European Rescue Programme, which recommend against breeding the species because there was a glut of lynxes in European zoos at the time, making it difficult to find a place for more animals.

But how do you keep animals from breeding? “The solution was the application of a contraceptive chip. But not to the female – we applied the chip to the male. For felines, it is better from a health point of view to give contraceptives to males, because females are more at risk for cancer and other complications related to contraception,” explained zoologist Petr Haberland. However, the administration of contraceptives to animals in a zoo environment is still a new area, and more detailed guidelines on what products to use and in what amounts for specific species are still being developed. “So the effect of the chip lasted longer than we expected. While breeding has been allowed again for a while, our lynx were still exhibiting the effects of the contraceptive. We were starting to get worried that we had completely eliminated the lynx from breeding by using the contraception – he had put on a lot of weight and he no longer seemed interested in the female. But fortunately, just after the New Year, we observed mating attempts again,” explains the zoologist. That first time, the female did not become pregnant, but the second time succeeded, which is why the kitten was not born until the end of July.

The kit is still less than two months old. The zoo does not yet know its sex because the female and male are guarding it closely. The mother kept it hidden in the maternity hut for a long time, and only in the last week have the keepers started to notice that the kitten is becoming more independent, coming out and exploring the outside world. “We attribute the fact that the kit was a single birth, though normally there are 2 to 3, rarely even 5 kittens in a litter of lynxes, to the lingering effects of contraception and maybe the higher age of the parents,” explained the zoologist. The current breeding pair was established by Decin Zoo in 2016. The male is 12 years old and comes from the zoo in Liberec. The female is 10 years old and comes from the zoo in Hluboka. They have already raised 4 cubs together, so this is their fifth offspring.