Evidence on Sympatric Occurrence of Caracal caracal and Lynx lynx in Anatolia

Abstract

This study aims to determine the distributions of Caracal Caracal caracal and Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx in the central part of southwestern Turkey. It was conducted using a camera trap survey in 9 km2 gird cells of 280 km2 study area between March 2014 and April 2015. During the 7776 camera trap day survey, we obtained 5964 wildlife records from 31 different camera trap stations. While eight camera trap stations are positive for caracal (n = 48) and four camera trap stations are positive for lynx (n = 22), five camera trap stations are positive both for caracal and lynx. These results indicate the first evidence on sympatric occurrence of caracal and Eurasian lynx in Anatolia. The area in which caracal and eurasian lynx were recorded together is located at the transition of two eco-regions. High habitat diversity of this area have allowed these two species to be present in the area with suitable habitat and abundant prey (European hare) availability. Maintaining high habitat diversity is very important for preserving the existence of these two felid species in that area.