12 May 2017
12.05.2017- The German public radio and television, Deutsche Welle, dedicated a short documentary film to the Balkan lynx (Lynx lynx balcanicus), entitled The Balkan Lynxes - The Last of Their Kind.
For the making of the film, the German team stayed several days in Kosovo and filmed at various locations in Sharri National Park for the activities of governmental and non-governmental organizations within the framework of the project "Balkan Lynx Recovery Program," which is supported by the German foundation EuroNatur and partner organizations from Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia.
The film focuses on the work of these organizations in gathering information on the lynx's existence through camera trap monitoring and also highlights the characteristics of the Balkan lynx species.
The film also addresses the environmental situation in the areas where the lynx lives and the factors that threaten its existence. Part of the film is also devoted to the contribution that the German Government is providing in Kosovo to support sustainable development through various projects being implemented with the help of the German Organization for Development-GIZ.
Otherwise, the project supported by EuroNatur 'Balkan Lynx Recovery Program' aims to increase the critically endangered Balkan lynx population and to create a cross-border protected area, which will allow wild cats to restore their original habitat again.
Project partners are the Macedonian Ecological Society (MASH), the Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), the FINCH and ERA organizations from Kosovo, the Center for the Protection and Research of Birds in Montenegro, Sharri National Park, National Parks of Montenegro as well as Carnivore Ecology and Wastewater Management (KORA) in Switzerland.
The Balkan lynx is the largest endemic cat in the Balkans and is critically endangered. The protection of rare animals is still in its early stages in Kosovo. Within the project, camera traps have been placed to understand how many of the animals still exist. As part of the activities in Macedonia, devices with transmitters have also been installed, which allow tracking the lynx's movements via GPS.
You can watch the film at the following link: Balkan Lynxes – The Last of Their Kind.