Food habits of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx in southeast Poland

We studied diet and prey preferences of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) inhabiting south-east Poland, based on kills found during GPS-GSM telemetry and opportunistic winter tracking. Among 64 lynx kills were roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (91%), red deer (Cervus elaphus) (3%) and brown hare (Lepus europaeus) (6%). From the ungulate community, lynx selected roe deer (D = 0.845) and avoided all other ungulates. We recorded one case of surplus and two cases of parallel killing. Lynx visited the same killed roe deer on average for 2.3 days, and for up to six days when surplus or parallel killing occurred. High numbers of the roe deer in south-east Poland supports the persistence of the lynx, but we urge managers to take under consideration food requirements of the lynx when planning game management.

Automated summary

In this study, we investigated the diet and prey preferences of the Eurasian lynx in southeast Poland. The results showed that the lynx mainly preyed on roe deer and avoided other ungulates. Additionally, surplus and parallel killing behaviors were observed, indicating the flexibility of lynx in utilizing food resources. The high abundance of roe deer in southeast Poland was found to be crucial for the persistence of the lynx population.