Shining a light on elusive lynx: Density estimation of three Eurasian lynx populations in Ukraine and Belarus.

The Eurasian lynx is a large carnivore widely distributed across Eurasia. However, our understanding of population status is heterogeneous across their range, with some populations isolated that are at risk of reduced genetic variation and a complete lack of information about others. In many European countries, Eurasian lynx are monitored through demographic studies crucial for their conservation and management. Even so, there are only rough and fragmented population assessments from Ukraine and Belarus, despite strict protection in both countries and their importance for lynx connectivity across Europe. We monitored lynx from October 2020 to March 2021 and used camera trapping in combination with spatial capture-recapture (SCR) methods in a Bayesian framework to provide the first SCR density estimation of three lynx populations across Ukraine and Belarus, including the Ukrainian Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, southern Belarus and the Ukrainian Carpathians. Our density estimates varied within our study areas ranging from 0.45 to 1.54 individuals/100 km Рись євразійська (

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© 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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The authors have no competing interests to be declared.