When the 10-year-old lynx Rubin, a 10-year-old lynx of the Riga Zoo “veteran”, was introduced to the less than 3-year-old lynx Dadzi, the family was expected to grow only next summer. But the experienced father of 10 lusen “from a previous relationship” did not waste time …
And here they are – two healthy and carefree, at the end of May, lusenums, a boy and a girl, who already appeared bravely to the visitors of the zoo, plucking into the sand of the hostel and climbing the swamps. In turn, the new Jēkabpils County Council will be a big test in organizing the naming of lynxes, as the coat of arms of Jēkabpils is decorated with lynx and the city has been helping to maintain lynxes in Riga Zoo and the names of animals entered in the European lynx pedigree register for 8 years.
In many parts of Europe, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and, inter alia, its northern subspecies (Lynx lynx lynx) are seriously endangered in the wild and it is very important to fully preserve this species in captivity, so since 2002 all data have been compiled in the European lynx herd book. (ESB). Both the lynx Ruby, which was once found in the yard of Vidzeme house, and the lynx Dadze, which was brought from Vilaka forests to the zoo by foresters, have no relatives in European zoos, which makes the possible offspring of this lynx pair especially valuable in the European lynx conservation project. By contrast, Rubin and his former “coworker” Camellia had grown in captivity enough, so Camellia was sent to Poland to allow Ruby to start a new family. The couple’s 10 offspring once reached Poland, where a lynx restoration program is being implemented with the support of the World Wide Fund for Nature, as well as Finland and elsewhere.
In total, after 20 years of participating in the lynx breeding program, cats born in Riga and the Riga Zoo branch “Cīruļi” have been sent to zoos in Estonia, Lithuania, Scotland, Finland, Spain, Hungary, Ukraine and elsewhere. The lynx, born in 2014 and named the Duke of Jēkabpils, together with Lūsija, born in “Cīrīļi”, now lives in the Kobe Zoo of the Riga Commonwealth. The conservation of endangered species in captivity is a rather complicated process, which also includes the “calculation of marriages”, but it ensures the achievement of the main result – the genetically complete conservation of an endangered animal species.
Jēkabpils residents now have a difficult task ahead of them, because lynxes born at the Riga Zoo have previously given quite loud names – Jakobīne, Hercogs, Jete, Lūsija, Ambera, Jēkabs, Jākobs … vaccination. For our part, we ask you to follow the rules of the zoo’s internal order and not get too close to the lynx’s house so as not to disturb the young family.
And also – Riga National Zoo reminds that the lynx is not and should not be a pet, because keeping these animals is allowed only in registered collections (zoos).
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