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Abstract

Extra-territorial mating excursions (i.e. short-term movements beyond established home ranges to seek mating opportunities) represent an underexplored reproductive strategy in felids. Using telemetry data from 125 Eurasian lynx (172 lynx-years, 1995-2023) across Europe, we investigated sex-specific spatio-temporal patterns and drivers of these excursions during the mating season. Overall, 33% of males and 11% of females undertook excursions, with males having higher rates than females. Male excursions mostly occurred in March, coinciding with the peak of the conception period, while females tended to undertake excursions either before or after this peak. The median Euclidean distance travelled beyond the home range was 6.8 km for males and 2.6 km for females, with corresponding median durations of 119 h and 85 h, respectively. Translocated individuals exhibited higher excursion rates than those in established populations, suggesting mate-searching in novel environments. We found no evidence that human influences affected excursion rates or distances. Our findings highlight a mating tactic that is often overlooked and provide new insight into sex-specific and context-dependent movement strategies in Eurasian lynx. By linking extra-territorial excursions to reproduction patterns, our study informs future research on mate-searching behaviour in felids and offers implications for conservation planning, particularly in isolated or reintroduced populations.

Keywords

foray; extra-home range movement; mating tactics; reproductive strategies; mammalian carnivore

Published in

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
2026, volume: 293, number: 2063, article number: 20252235
Publisher: ROYAL SOC

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Zoology

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.2235

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/146321