Overview

• Martin was born in June 2024 at Tiergarten Nürnberg, spent months in a minimal-contact enclosure at Zoo Karlsruhe, and was vaccinated and fitted with a tracking transmitter before release
• The Luchs Baden-Württemberg project launched in 2023 by the Ministry for Rural Areas aims to bolster lynx numbers in Baden-Württemberg and build public acceptance through scientific monitoring
• Earlier releases of Verena and Reinhold in late 2024 have established stable home ranges despite the loss of the first lynx, Finja, to a rare distemper infection last year
• Conservationists and the state hunting association emphasize the need to expand and improve wildlife corridors such as green bridges to support genetic flow and reduce road deaths
• Project planners intend to release around ten predominantly female lynx by the end of 2027 to establish a self-sustaining population in the Black Forest