A lynx without ears caught in a 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 him to undergo a complete veterinary exam. The goal is twofold. Specialists first want to verify if the animal can actually hunt despite his handicap. Then, a blood sample will be taken to sequence his genome, meaning to analyze his entire genetic heritage. Indeed, the ears of the Eurasian lynx are a first-rate sensory tool. Pointed, mobile, and topped with black tufts of hair, they allow him to locate prey up to 500 meters away, even under snow. Therefore, Felix necessarily developed compensation strategies to survive. Based on available images, he appears 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 firmly opposes it, believing that no lynx should be used as a guinea pig.
This animal puts scientists on the trail of a worrisome genetic mutation
Johanne Félix, scientific collaborator at the Service de la faune, des forêts et de la nature, specifies that two hypotheses are being studied. The first is a spontaneous genetic mutation. The second, more worrying, is inbreeding, meaning reproduction between closely related individuals. This second path is already well documented in a scientific context.
According to Pro Natura, alpine lynx have lost 46% of their genetic diversity compared to their Slovak ancestors, and Jura lynx 30%. The entire Swiss population descends from about twenty individuals from the Carpathians introduced in the 1970s. Therefore, genetic mixing between closely related animals has gradually impoverished the species’ genetic heritage. As a result, favorable genetic variants can now be expressed where they were previously neutralized.
The southern Jura population, in which Felix operates, has been stable with 10 to 15 individuals for about fifteen years. However, this numerical stability does not guarantee the group’s genetic health. Sequencing Felix’s genome will determine if his anomaly is heritable and if other siblings are at risk of spreading it.
A lynx without ears reveals a fragility that goes beyond the individual case
Felix’s case is not an isolated incident. Lynx without ears have already been observed in the Jura arc in recent years, and 23% of Jura lynx have heart murmurs, a condition also suspected to be of genetic origin. These findings are reminiscent of those observed in the lynx population in Slovenia some years before its collapse. Furthermore, the Confederation and the Swiss cantons are concurrently conducting a vast genetic diversification project, which aims to introduce new individuals from the Carpathians to enhance genetic mixing. However, this program primarily concerns alpine regions.
The case of the earless lynx in the Swiss Jura thus 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 problem and act before it is too late.
