Lynx is mostly satisfied

© Holger Hollemann / AP / DPA / TT
The Swedish lynx seems to be feeling good. This animal was photographed in a fence in the German National Park Harz. Photo gallery.

The Swedish lynx seems to be doing fine. Among the animals that were autopsied this year, nothing was found worse than an accidental broken tooth.

It was the Swedish Veterinary Institute that summarized the situation after the autopsy of 80 animals. These were filmed in connection with a spring license chase. The results showed that all but four of them had good perforations, otherwise intestinal parasites, which are very common, broken teeth and other rather harmless diseases.

Each year, lynxes and other killed predators are examined to monitor for diseases and prevent outbreaks in wild and domestic animals. This year, in addition, whole hearts and lynxes were collected for Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, which are researching impaired kidney function and risk of heart disease in humans. The hearts of lynxes could provide a better understanding if some animal species had better protective mechanisms than humans.

“Knowledge of lynx heart mechanisms can provide important clues about how to best treat patients with kidney disease,” SVA biologist Linda Thelin explains in a press release.