A lynx without ears captured by photo trap alerts Swiss authorities
A lynx without ears was captured for the first time by a photo trap on January 25, 2026, in the canton of Neuchâtel. According to an article published by 20 Minutes, authorities are now considering capturing it to undergo a complete veterinary examination. The goal is twofold. Specialists first want to verify if the animal can actually hunt despite its handicap. Then, a blood sample will be taken to sequence its genome, that is, to analyze its entire genetic heritage. Indeed, the ears of the Eurasian lynx are a first-rate sensory tool. Pointed, mobile, and topped with tufts of black hairs, they allow it to locate prey up to 500 meters away, even under the snow. Therefore, Felix must have developed compensatory strategies to survive. Based on the available images, he seems to be in good health and continues to feed.
The capture will be carried out in collaboration with the Kora foundation, specializing in monitoring large carnivores in Switzerland, and with the FIWI center, dedicated to wildlife medicine. According to France 3 Franche-Comté, the operation is not unanimously supported. The association Protect The Lynx strongly opposes it, believing that no lynx should be used as a guinea pig.
This animal puts scientists on the trail of a worrying genetic mutation
Johanne Félix, a scientific collaborator at the Department of Wildlife, Forests, and Nature, specifies that two hypotheses are being considered. The first is a spontaneous genetic mutation. The second, more worrying, is inbreeding, that is, reproduction between closely related individuals. This second lead is already well documented in a scientific context.
According to Pro Natura, alpine lynxes have lost 46% of their genetic diversity compared to their Slovak ancestors, and Jura lynxes 30%. The entire Swiss population descends from about twenty individuals from the Carpathians introduced in the 1970s. Since then, genetic mixing between closely related animals has gradually impoverished the species’ genetic heritage. Consequently, favorable genetic variants that were previously neutralized can now be expressed.
The southern Jura population, in which Felix operates, has remained stable with between 10 and 15 individuals for the past fifteen years. However, this numerical stability does not guarantee the genetic health of the group. Sequencing Felix’s genome will determine if his anomaly is hereditary and if other siblings might spread it.
A lynx without ears reveals a fragility that goes beyond the individual case
Felix’s case is not an isolated incident. Lynxes without ears have already been observed in the Jura arc in recent years, and 23% of Jura lynxes have a heart murmur, a pathology also suspected to be of genetic origin. These findings are reminiscent of those observed in the lynx population of Slovenia a few years before its collapse. Furthermore, the Confederation and Swiss cantons are simultaneously conducting a large-scale genetic diversification project, aiming to introduce new individuals from the Carpathians to restart genetic mixing. However, this program primarily concerns alpine regions.
In this way, the case of the earless lynx in the Swiss Jura illustrates a broader reality. When a wild population closes in on itself, anomalies accumulate from generation to generation. For scientists, capturing Felix is not an act of curiosity but a necessary step to assess the extent of the issue and act before it’s too late.
