Seasonal and daily activity patterns of free‐living Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx in relation to availability of kills

Abstract

Activity patterns of predators are influenced by several factors including season and temperature as well as the availability of prey species. We investigated the activity of six free‐living Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx (four males and two females without kittens) in the Bohemian Forest along the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. The lynx were tagged with GPS‐collars with acceleration sensors in 2005, 2010 and 2011. Activity was measured every 5 minutes on 1,360 days (403,467 measurements) to detect circadian activity patterns. All lynx were predominantly crepuscular, with an average activity of 8.9 hours/day and with the lowest activity at midday. The activity patterns of male and female lynx did not differ significantly. With each 10°C increase in the mean air temperature per day, the lynx decreased their daily activity by 30 minutes. In winter, activity was concentrated at dusk. We also investigated whether lynx activity was influenced by the availability of freshly killed roe deer Capreolus capreolus, red deer Cervus elaphus or European hare Lepus europaeus. We compared the activity data of 357 days with a kill (109 recorded kills) and 316 days without a kill and calculated generalised additive mixed models. On days with a kill, the lynx were 3.3 hours/ day less active than on days without a kill. The activity on consecutive days with a killed prey did not differ. The pattern of activity on days with a kill differed little from the pattern of activity on days without a kill.