The cub was born at the Bayerwald-Tierpark Lohberg, near the Czech border, and is estimated to weigh just under 15 kg. She was now old enough to make the trip to Eastern Styria.

After a smooth transport, Elsa arrived at her new home around noon. Upon arrival, the young lynx was brought into the enclosure in her transport crate and immediately introduced to Kuder, an 11-year-old male lynx.

The zoo staff were completely surprised when they immediately heard a friendly purr coming from the enclosure. “Female lynxes typically display dominant behavior. We didn’t expect the two animals to become friends right away,” confirmed Dr. Reinhard Pichler, a veterinary specialist and the zoo’s director, expressing his satisfaction with the successful socialization.

The velvet-pawed cat with sharp claws had been extinct in Austria for about 150 years. In the 1960s, these big cats migrated to Austria via Slovakia. Since then, various efforts have been made to facilitate the return of these brush-eared cats through further reintroductions into the wild.

Let's hope that these two cats stay together for a long time and that we might see some Styrian lynx cubs as early as next spring.