This mother Lynx, Koshka, has been held in captivity for years and forced to breed. As soon as she gave birth to a litter, they were instantly taken away from her.
The kittens were sold off as luxury pets around the world or even more horrific, turned into fur.
This story has a good ending, Dr. Victor Lukarevsky and his team found and rescued her. Watch the video as this Lynx overcomes obstacles to become an incredible, loving mother.
Deep in the Ural Mountains in Russia Dr. Lukarevsky’s mission has been to rescue and rehabilitate cats to go back to the wild.
“When I went to see them, I thought there’s no way that you could get those animals back to health and rehabilitate them,” – Gordon Buchanan.
“But Dr. Victor Lukarevsky pointed out that they were born in the wild, so retained the same wild instincts.”
With a much improved diet and outdoor space to roam, the Lynx started showing signs of improvement.
Critical to their mission was keeping the Lynx fearful and not trusting of humans. To survive in the wild, the Lynx must keep their distance from humans and fend for themselves.
Unfortunately, back in the wild humans will be her biggest danger.
The Lynx must also be trained in ‘hunting behavior’ in order to provide for herself and her litter. They need to develop a hunting mode to hear a bird flap its wings, or a mouse running across the forest floor.
The kittens are growing up well in conditions as close to the wild as possible. As soon as they hear those sounds they need to switch their hunting mode on and make the kill.
The Lynx and her kittens are progressing well during their rehabilitation, but with four years in a cage, the process will take quite some time. A Lynx can live up to 15 years in the wold, so whenever she and her kittens are released back into the wild, we hope live a long and healthy life.