Wangari → Thuringian Forest
The Fox-Eater
In January 2025, the Wildnispark Zurich Foundation welcomed a new female breeding animal. A few months later, she gave birth to triplets – Wangari is from this litter.
February 2026: Transport to Germany
The three siblings – one male and two females – are taken to the Hütscheroda Wildcat Village. This wildlife park maintains a special facility where the lynxes are kept with as little human contact as possible and are specifically prepared for release into the wild.
August 2026: The German Minister of the Environment releases Wangari into the wild.
Wangari is released into the wild in the Thuringian Forest alongside Lana, a female lynx from Belgium. Like all lynx released into the wild in Thuringia, she begins her journey into the wild in a special acclimatization enclosure deep in the forest. German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider attends the release event and opens the door for Wangari (see video below).
→ How the Thuringian Forest Connects Lynx Populations
The goal of the project “Lynx Thuringia – Connecting Europe’s Lynx Populations” is to reintroduce up to 20 lynx into the Thuringian Forest between 2024 and 2027. This is being done for the following reason: The Thuringian Forest serves as an important connecting corridor (“stepping stone”) between the existing lynx populations in the Harz Mountains and the Bavarian Forest. Lynx are reluctant to expand into areas where they do not yet live. That is why supporting stepping-stone populations is important. In the long term, this will better promote genetic exchange between the individual lynx populations.
October 2026: Already two foxes and a roe deer killed
Wangari has settled in well in the Thuringian Forest: She is located west of Ilmenau and hunts regularly. Initially, project managers found the remains of two foxes, but have since discovered roe deer that have been killed as well. Incidentally, it is not unusual for a lynx to eat foxes. In Central Europe, foxes make up about 4 percent of a lynx’s prey spectrum.
→ What does the name Wangari mean?
This female lynx was named after the Kenyan environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai. Translated, Wangari means “the leopard.”
