A work from the Brandhoek collection Wild Beauties of Europe & Americas 2024
He moves silently. His eyes seem to read the forest even before anything moves there.
The lynx is not an animal that shows itself. It is an animal that is there .
Hardly anyone sees him – and yet his return is one of the greatest natural wonders of Europe.
In Brandhoek's art, the lynx symbolizes perception, dignity, and return. It represents the quiet power of that which disappears – and yet finds its way back.
A Portrait of the Invisible
The lynx is the largest wildcat in Europe. With its black-spotted fur, short tail, and distinctive tufted ears, it looks like a relic from another time.
He looks like a puzzle observing itself.
Its name comes from the Indo-European root: Leuk- – “to shine”. And indeed, its eyes are so sensitive to light that it can detect prey even on moonless nights.
Wherever it appears, the balance of an entire ecosystem changes – because the lynx is not a hunter out of hunger, but out of precision.
On Disappearance and Reappearance
Just a few centuries ago, the lynx was widespread throughout almost all of Europe. Then its silent extinction began – through hunting, deforestation, and fear.
In the 19th century, it was considered extinct in Central Europe. Only small populations survived in the remote mountains of Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia.
But since the 1970s, a new chapter has begun.
With reintroduction projects and international protection, the lynx is slowly returning – first to the Alps, then to the Harz Mountains, later to the Palatinate Forest and the Bavarian Forest.
Today it is considered a symbol of “rewilding” – the return of wilderness to a landscape shaped by humans.
The return to Germany and Central Europe
The lynx was absent from Germany for over 150 years. In 1999, the first successful reintroduction project began in the Harz Mountains. Today, around 100 animals live there again – free, independent, and shy.
Since 2016, over twenty lynx from Switzerland and Slovakia have been released into the wild in the Palatinate Forest. The population has been growing steadily ever since: in 2023 alone, 18 cubs were documented.
There is also renewed hope in Baden-Württemberg. After almost two centuries without a lynx, the third animal was released there in 2024 – a quiet but historic moment.
And in Bavaria today there are about 95 lynx, eleven of them females with offspring.
These numbers sound small. But they mean: The lynx is back.
One global animal – four species, many stories
There are four lynx species worldwide:
the Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ),
the Iberian lynx ( Lynx pardinus ),
the Canada lynx ( Lynx canadensis )
and the bobcat ( Lynx rufus ), which lives primarily in North America.
The Eurasian lynx is the largest of them – and the species that inspired Brandhoek.
It inhabits forests from Scandinavia across Central Europe and deep into Siberia. It is estimated that there are fewer than 50,000 adult animals worldwide, of which around 17,000 to 18,000 are in Europe.
The Iberian lynx had almost disappeared by the early 2000s – fewer than 100 specimens survived.
But thanks to an unprecedented conservation program in Spain and Portugal, over 2,000 animals now survive. Its success is considered one of the greatest conservation miracles in Europe.
In North America, the Canada lynx and bobcat are still relatively stable in their distribution, but are struggling with habitat loss and climate change, which is altering their prey spectrum.
The lynx and us
What is the source of its fascination?
Perhaps he's withdrawing.
That he cannot be bought, tamed, or staged.
The lynx represents that form of freedom which can only be observed if one becomes quiet enough.
For that beauty which is not expressed in volume, but in presence.
In a world that wants to make everything controllable, the lynx remains a contradiction.
He reminds us that wilderness is not a place – but a state of being.
The lynx in the art of Brandhoek
The Brandhoek artwork featuring the lynx was created in January 2024 and is part of the "Wild Icons of Europe & America" collection.
It captures the moment when nature becomes a memory – preserved in a quiet, modern setting.
The lynx is resting on a designer sofa, but its eyes remain awake.
It is not decorative.
It is a thought.
One question remains:
How much wilderness do we still carry within us – and how much have we already lost?
An animal as a symbol of preservation
The return of the lynx is more than an ecological event.
It is a story of trust.
On nature's ability to return – if we give it space.
Every lynx that lives in European forests today is proof that responsibility pays off.
That protection is worthwhile.
And that beauty, if left alone, always finds a way to become visible again.
Brandhoek – 2024
Work - When the Wild Returns
The past is looking back at us. And we call it the present.
This work serves as a reminder that preservation is not a static process.
It is movement – in the subtlest of all senses.
Sources;
WWF Europe – Lynx Conservation and Rewilding in Europe
