Conservation

Since June 2016, an information point for the LIFE DINALP BEAR project has been available at the bear enclosure at Ljubljana Zoo. The interactive portal offers information on the biology and ecology of the brown bear, the threats to its population and solutions for better human–bear coexistence. On the interactive portal you can find information about the biology and ecology of the brown bear, the threats to the population in the wild and ways of successful coexistence between humans and bears. Reducing the number of conflicts with bears is one of the key aims of the five-year project, co-financed by the European Commission.

Scientists from the Department of Biology of the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana tested various scents in the lynx enclosure on special 'cat brushes', where wildcats and lynxes like to rub themselves and leave a genetic trace — their hair. Using DNA analysis of the hair, scientists can distinguish between individual lynxes, follow them in the wild and so study them.

Scientists from the Department of Biology of the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana also studied the use of space by lynxes in our enclosure using special granules added to their food. The lynxes pass the granules in their droppings, allowing scientists to track individual lynxes and determine the size and pattern of use of their territory.

In the bear enclosure, scientists from the Department of Biology of the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana collected samples of our bears' droppings and refined the method for determining the DNA of an individual bear. It is precisely through DNA from droppings of wild bears that the size of the brown bear population in Slovenia has been determined.

The bears Jaka and Meta at Ljubljana Zoo also tested a range of bins, as scientists and manufacturers sought the most effective solutions to prevent a bear — a large, strong predator — from accessing food thrown into bins near human dwellings.

The younger bears Čupa and Pombi took part in testing the quality of special compost storage containers that would be strong enough to prevent wild bears from accessing them. The result was 2:0 in favour of the bears, which rounded off their test by feasting on pears and apples.

In the lynx enclosure, from May 2017 to March 2018, research was carried out on non-invasive collection of genetic samples from lynxes using spring hair traps. Researchers at Ljubljana Zoo, as part of the DinaRis project and the current LIFE Lynx project, tested a special method for collecting hair samples with hair follicles. The purpose of the tests was to develop and optimise an effective scent post for collecting non-invasive genetic samples in the natural environment. Lynxes have to be attracted close to the scent post and encouraged to rub against it. To this end, the researchers use scent mixtures containing special ingredients found in catnip. These trigger a sense of pleasure in lynxes and prompt the rubbing behaviour against scented objects. When they rub, hair is caught on the various types of collectors attached to the scent post. The researchers can then use properly stored hair with the hair follicles for genetic analyses to confirm the presence of a lynx in a particular study area, estimate the number of lynxes in the population, their relatedness, territory size and more. The advantage of the improved method is that we can obtain a sample from a single animal with enough genetic material for further genetic analysis.