Ice storm that hit Slovenia in February with catastrophic damages left an imprint in the City of Ljubljana as well. A month later, the weather conditions have improved and the damage renovation in the City of Ljubljana is proceeding in pursuant to the approved renovation plan.

The sleet damage in the City of Ljubljana is estimated at 4 million euros, the final assessment will be known by the end of May.

Tree Damage

Considering timber is still to be cleared, 13,500 m3 of branches and 500 m3 of timber have been removed from the forests by the beginning of March.

The renovation in urban areas is to be carried out until the middle of April, the Ljubljana's Castle hillside will be cleaned up in May, and the park forests by the end of autumn.

The tree damage in the City of Ljubljana urban environment is estimated at 970,000 EUR and the replacement of 125 trees. The Castle Hill and the park forests are still undergoing damage evaluation. 

Ice storm has mostly damaged the forest in the outskirts of the city; some of them are completely destroyed.

The walking paths at the Castle Hill are cleared up and safe for using, while the walking paths on the popular Rožnik Hill are still in the process of intense clearing up. The city parks are cleared. We would like to warn those who enjoy taking walks in forests to keep away from the forest on the outskirts in case of strong wind and the danger of broken branches falling from trees, due to the late renovation of the fallen trees in those forests after the catastrophic natural disaster.

Infrastructure Damage

The public lighting is still undergoing damage repair with the renovation at 80 %.

The infrastructural damage is estimated at 100,000 EUR. Most of the expenses will go to the renovation of landslips on the street surfaces, damaged shores and renovation or replacement of road guardrails. The damaged road guardrails or safety barriers extend to 500 metres, mostly at the Eastern part of the City of Ljubljana with hillsides, due to the several smaller landslides caused by the fallen trees.

"The Top Cats in Town" Still Running Free

The trees at the Ljubljana ZOO have also damaged some of the fences under the weight of ice and snow in the first days of February in the outskirt of the Rožnik Hill (central park), resulting in the escape of two lynxes. They were immediately adopted by the people of Ljubljana and nicknamed "top cats in Ljubljana". One of the fans even created a Twitter profile in their name, and gained over 1000 followers on the first day.

The male lynx returned to the ZOO on his own within the first two days, because he was lazy and hungry, while the more primal and skilful female cat is still running free and is successfully avoiding the ZOO keepers and their tracking dogs on the Rožnik Hill, even though she is sometimes seen by passer-bys.

The lady lynx of the Ljubljana ZOO was last seen eye-to-eye by a recreational runner on Sunday, 2 March 2014, in the evening. The video made by his mobile device shows the lady lynx is resting under a tree and she is not disturbed by his presence, because of her ZOO experience with people. The runner notified the ZOO keepers immediately, but she got away once again and remains free.

The ZOO is actively working with experts in the field of lynxes in wild, who are advising and helping the search. The lynx is skilful and can survive in the wild on her own, the only threat being traffic, which is not something the animal is acquainted with.

The Eurasian lynx is the largest cat in Europe. There are only 15 to 30 living representatives of a lynx in Slovenia, due to the drastic downfall of this animal species in the last 15 years. The Eurasian lynx remains the most endangered mammal in Slovenia, its biggest threats being inbreeding and illegal cull.