Caught after walking into a humane trap

A Carpathian lynx that escaped from Dartmoor Zoo three weeks ago has been returned safe and sound.

Flaviu escaped from the zoo on the 7 July by chewing through a board in his enclosure.

Now, after a lengthy search involving police helicopters and drones, Flaviu is finally back where he belongs.


“He is now very grumpy when we go into the house, but CCTV shows that he relaxes completely when we are not there,” said zoo owner Benjamin Mee.

Flaviu was caught after walking into a humane trap in woods about a quarter of a mile away from the zoo. The search team set up a trap where Flaviu had killed a lamb, knowing that he would return to the area.

“Moving all dead and live animals out of the way, his only option for food was inside the trap,” said Benjamin. “Having perhaps habituated to traps generally, he chose to take the risk and the door shut behind him.”

Flaviu appears to have coped well in the wild, weighing exactly the same as he did when he arrived at the zoo. In the last two days, however, Flaviu survived by eating an 'unsustainable number' of lambs.

This is a big worry for the Lynx UK Trust, who are currently campaigning to reintroduce the species to the UK. Just last week, the Trust identified Kielder Forest, Northumberland, as a preferred trial reintroduction site for the species.


“I spoke to the Lynx UK Trust yesterday, and they were on the edges of their seats worrying how Flaviu would impact their campaign,” said Benjamin.

“We both agreed that re-wilding on Dartmoor is not a good idea, but I think that the project in Northumberland sounds like it could be a good way to keep the roe deer population under control without the need for culling. It sounds like the local farmers are few and far between.”

Dartmoor Zoo hopes to source a female lynx to keep Flaviu company 'as soon as possible'.

Image (C) Dartmoor Zoo.