'Forest Ghost' filmed in Turkey’s Kars province

By Huseyin Demirci

KARS, Turkey (AA) - The endangered Caucasian lynx, which is difficult to observe, was spotted Monday in Turkey’s Kars province.

The Scotch pine forests in Sarikamis district, which are home to many wild animals, also host the lynxes.

Called "the ghost of the forest" because it hunts at night and rests during the day, the journey of the Caucasian lynx along the snow-covered terrain was filmed by Anadolu Agency.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Emrah Coban, science coordinator at the Kuzeydoga Association, said that as part of the Biodiversity Conservation Project of Northeast Anatolia, studies on Caucasian lynxes continue.

“Lynxes are very sensitive animals known as the ghosts of the forest. They can’t be observed during the day because they hunt at night and rest during the day. They become more visible in their breeding time in winter. This monitoring also coincided with that time,” Coban said.

He noted that they caught 15 lynxes in seven years in Sarikamis.

“Some of the lynxes we track by satellite transmitter are female. Especially in this season, we try to observe them by following their tracks in the snow and getting closer to them with the signals from the satellite.

He said Sarikamis is a very important place in Turkey for lynxes and the forests in Sarikamis are a natural habitat of both Eurasian and Caucasian lynxes.

“We cannot say anything about the population of lynxes in Sarikamis because we are at the beginning of the study,” he added.