Once on the brink of extinction, the Iberian lynx has seen a resurgence in recent years thanks to breeding programmes and habitat restoration efforts. Sophie Sadler visited the breeding centre in Silves (Centro Nacional de Reprodução de Lince-Ibérico – CNRLI) just after the species’ reclassification from endangered to vulnerable.
On arriving at the Iberian lynx reproduction centre, I sense the aura of Area 51. Surrounded by hills and barren scrubland, a guard waves me into the centre. I survey the large enclosures, which hide the precious inhabitants, who, only 25 years ago, were a whisker away from extinction. When the conservation plan began, only a few dozen individuals were left in the wild, and many feared that this majestic feline would disappear forever. However, through collaboration and determination, the Iberian lynx is now thriving once again in its natural environment.
I last visited the centre in 2018 when a forest fire forced the evacuation of its residents. But, today, there is more of a celebratory mood when I meet biologist João Alves, the national coordinator of the Iberian lynx conservation programme. Thanks to a two-decade-long effort by Spain and Portugal, the Iberian lynx has recently been moved from the ‘endangered’ to ‘vulnerable’ category on the global red list of threatened species.
The achievement is the result of a coalition of partners, including the EU and regional and national governments in Spain and Portugal, as well as wildlife NGOs, landowners, hunters, mayors and local people. According to the latest census, the lynx population on the peninsula has risen from just 94 in 2002 to 2,021 last year, the majority – almost 86% – found in Spain.
João is a cog in this mighty wheel that has brought back such a beautiful species, which is not only aesthetically pleasing but an essential part of the Iberian natural ecosystem. João is a biologist who has worked for Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas (ICNF) since 1982. He says his work on the lynx project “is a marathon, a persistent but not a speedy process”. His predecessors started the work in 2008 and he has carried the baton for 11 years and maybe others will complete it. But everyone involved has been focused on preserving the species, with the goal of achieving a self-sustaining population.
Part of the reason for the reproduction centre´s existence is the vast reservoir that I can see sparkling like a mirage in the valley below amongst the otherwise sun-scorched bushland. João and I stand on a hill looking down into the area containing the shelters so he can show me where the lynx are housed and how they train them to survive in the wild. When Águas do Algarve constructed the Odelouca Dam, the land taken by the reservoir occupied such a large area that it took over the potential habitat of lynx. As a result, the EU ordered Águas do Algarve to construct a lynx reproduction centre to compensate for the environmental impact. Therefore the Algarve´s water company purchased Herdade das Santinhas, where we are standing and built the 16 lynx enclosures, a house for technical centre director Rodrigo Serra and the houses for volunteers and the technicians when they arrive from Spain to transport the animals. There are also offices, a kitchen and a veterinary clinic, where they take blood to analyse and check that the animals are healthy.
The centre is run by ICNF, a public institute that is responsible for nature conservation, biodiversity and forests. An agreement between Spain and Portugal in 2009 sealed the deal to send 17 lynx to this centre after Portugal joined the Spanish plan for reproduction in captivity in 2007. Since then, the Iberian lynx has been part of a national conservation plan (PACLIP 2008), and it is the first species to have this protection in Portugal. So few animals remained; this was their last chance to save the species. There are another three breeding centres in Spain. The first female, Azahar, arrived in the reproduction centre in the Algarve from Andalucia in October 2009. Since her arrival, every new generation has been given a name starting with the next letter in the alphabet.
In 2015, the conservation plan was revised under the National Plan for Conservation (PACLIP 2015) to incorporate the improvement of national habitat, communication, the inclusion of academic study by academies and universities, and the study of genetics, disease and behaviour.
The centre is currently home to 30 animals, 25 adults and five cubs born this year. Along with the Spanish centres, they released their first captive-bred animals at the end of 2014 and the Spring of 2015, releasing ten lynx near Mértola in Portugal. Three hundred lynx bred in captivity in the Portuguese and Spanish breeding centres are now living in the wild in Portugal, and some have travelled to Alcoutim, near the Spanish border, to form a new colony. In the whole Iberian Peninsula, there are now 2,021 recorded lynx living in the wild.
I was interested to learn that the Iberian lynx originally existed in the valley below us. One of the locals from Monchique recalls that his grandfather had found a cub in the wild and kept it as a pet, thinking it was a wild cat. So we know that in the last 50 years, there have been wild lynx in this valley.
Part of the reason for the lynx´s past decline is its inability to adapt to intense and very rapid changes in their territory caused by human factors and its continued reliance on wild rabbit for food. Crashes in the rabbit population from myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease, in turn, resulted in a decline in the lynx population. As a result, a crucial part of the centre´s efforts is ensuring that the young lynx can hunt its preferred food source.
João points out the nursery pens where the mothers give birth to and nurture the young while they are weaned and the mother teaches them natural behaviours. A second site was built after my last visit. It is here that the juvenile hunters are placed, along with a number of unfortunate rabbits whose life´s work is to be part of the effort to re-establish the lynx population. The rabbits are released into a series of tunnels so the young lynx don’t associate humans with food. When the rabbits appear from the tunnels, the lynx has to learn to hunt them, which is closely observed by the team at the centre. They cannot be released if they fail, as they would starve in the wild. Older animals are given a less challenging meal of pre-prepared meat from the supermarket!
The unfortunate rabbits are taking one for the team, as in João´s words, “In the wild, the lynx act as doctors, enhancing a natural selection process whereby the weaker and ill rabbits are easy prey for the lynx, meaning they get taken out and are unable to spread disease to others.”
One released lynx named Paprica (from generation P!) learned that she liked the taste of chicken. João thinks this is because the rabbit population might have depleted, so she found alternative food at the chicken coops in the small village of Corte Sines, north of Mértola. Typically, lynx hunt nocturnally, so ICNF with financial support from the LIFE Lynxconnect project, improved the fences for the farmer so that the chickens were protected when they were locked up at night. However, Paprica soon learnt that this treat was only available during daylight hours, so she arrived during the day. Therefore, the programme had to move Paprica out of temptation’s way, hoping she would forget the culinary delight of fresh chicken.
After observing the centre from above, we drive down to the main complex, which houses a series of offices and a dining area for the staff. I am shown into a room with an array of monitors across one wall, showing the inside of the enclosures. It is like the Big Brother house, but for lynx, where every behaviour and interaction is scrutinised – in this case, not for public entertainment but for their own safety.
I met Marta Cabaca, who trained as a biologist specialising in animal behaviour. She is on the observation shift in the ‘Big Brother’ house, where the precious animals are closely watched. There are two mothers in separate enclosures on the monitors: Retama with her three cubs and René with her two cubs. They will pass on their knowledge and skills to the cubs so that, hopefully, they can be released back into the wild when they are a year old. It is a scorching day and they are sleeping before becoming more active later.
As I observe them through the black-and-white images, it is easy to mistake them for domestic felines as they cat nap. Two cubs wake up briefly to have a play fight, blissfully unaware that the future of their species is in their paws! It is important to observe them as it is not uncommon for play fighting to cause serious injury as they develop their predatory skills. Where handling is required, tranquillisers are used. The animals are not tame. The centre’s staff also monitor the rest of the captive population to monitor their health and behaviour.
To breed, lynx have a socialisation period with a fence in the middle to check how they behave with each other. If there are no signs of animosity, they are then put together to mate in December. This process also has to be closely monitored. There was an incident a couple of years ago when the male and female didn´t get on and started to fight, so they had to be separated. The male remains with the female until about two weeks before she is due to give birth when they are separated into the neighbouring enclosure.
While the females are giving birth, Marta, the team and young volunteers observe while trying not to interfere. They only get involved if they see a problem with either the mother or cub, which they assess on a case-by-case basis. The average number of cubs is three, but they can have up to five. Only on one occasion have they kept a non-aggressive, non-territorial male together with the female and cubs. In the wild, males and females may have overlapping territories, and although they don’t operate as a family unit, they will occasionally interact. They mark their territory with urine and rubbing their beard and paws on objects.
While the Portuguese government finances the Portuguese reproduction programme, the EU financed the reintroduction programmes from here and the Spanish units. Since 2014 reintroduction has taken place in Mértola and Serpa in the Guadiana Valley. The area was chosen after a census of the rabbit population confirmed that there was enough food to support the lynx.
Through education initiatives and community outreach programs, people have learned about the importance of coexisting with these magnificent animals and the need to safeguard their future.
In Mértola and Serpa municipalities the intitial project LIFE Iberlince spoke to local communities and associations of hunters who signed agreements, in 2014 and 2015, to ensure that the locals were on the same side. Now, the resident population is capitalising on their new inhabitants. Although it is still doubtful that you will see one in the wild, there are wine producers using the lynx as their emblem, while a brand of biscuit has been made in their honour.
Today a female and a cub are being released and are on the road to their release site. Our interview is interrupted when João takes a call as one of the vehicles has broken down, another of many logistical obstacles he needs to overcome on a daily basis. The pair are part of an experiment to see if releasing a mother with her cub is successful, as the reproduction centres are full of older animals that cannot be released. Some go to zoos in Lisbon and Madrid and the municipality in Vila Nova de Gaia near Porto is finalising a special installation for two animals. “We obviously do not euthanise the older animals, but we want to release the enclosures for reproduction. You cannot keep the lynx together as they fight.”
Another solution is to house surplus lynx (elderly former progenitors, or young lynx unsuitable for release, due to having genetic defects) is the Serra da Malcata Natural Reserve. The mayors of Penamacor and Sabugal intend to build reception enclosures for these surplus specimens, and are eagerly awaiting the natural return of the Iberian lynx to that territory. The Malcata reserve, created in 1981, mainly to protect the lynx spans 16,348 hectares and stretches across the municipalities of Sabugal and Penamacor, bordering Spain to the east. However the census of 2012 and 2013 showed there were virtually no wild rabbit in this area and so no lynx were ever released here, a fact that locals are trying to rectify . The two municipalities, together with other entities, have been promoting initiatives aimed at restoring wild rabbit densities which will enable the return of breeding female lynx and, at the same time, the food sustainability of other relevant species, including several birds of prey.
If all this sounds quite straightforward, then it should be noted that the team has one big headache – genetics. João explains, “Genetics are key because all of the lynx came from a very depleted population, so there is a very small gene pool. So, in the reproduction centres, we try to find two adults who are genetically far apart to mate. But this is a problem in the wild as we can’t control the mating, the dominant male will reproduce with several females, which will bring the gene pool down again. So sometimes it is necessary to catch a dominant male and put him in another place, and introduce a new male from a different population.”
Some males also have the natural instinct to return to their birthplace, which is what two brothers, Khan and Kentaro, did after being released at Montes de Toledo, south of Madrid. Remarkably they crossed the Tagus and entered Portugal. One of the brothers was sadly hit by a car, but the other made it to Serra de Monchique and the GPS trackers that they placed on the released lynx revealed that he had reached the perimeter fence of the facility before heading off into the Alentejo. They lost track of him near São Teotónio in the muncicipality of Odemira, as their electronic tags are operated by batteries that generally only last two years. They are experimenting with new technology to try to make the tags solar-powered.
Sadly, once out of the reproduction centre’s nurturing environment, many familiar threats have not gone away. Last year, 144 lynx were killed on Spanish and Portuguese roads, although João told me about a pioneering new technique which the public enterprise Infraestruturas de Portugal SA and ICNF were developing. This technology uses LoRaWAN, a wireless area network to connect with the Waze navigation app. They have introduced advanced features to protect lynx from getting run over, aiming to alert drivers of the animals’ presence and prevent accidents. However, this will only work with tagged animals, so those who are born in the wild or have not been subsequently captured for health checks, will not have a collar.
In addition to the threat from motorists, 45 more lynx died from disease or other causes. But the biggest worry is the damage being done to rabbit populations by rabbit haemorrhagic disease and the loss of habitat for the lynx’s preferred prey.
The programme tries to capture 10% of each population nucleus to take blood for analysis to check for diseases that could risk the survival of the whole population. Fortunately, up to this point, they have no threatening illnesses. They are also vaccinated before leaving the centre and when captured in the wild.
Despite the undeniable threats, João is confident that, by 2035, there will be a self-sustaining population in the wild, so the reproduction of lynx in captivity, will no longer be necessary, which, by all accounts, would be an amazing achievement.”The Iberian lynx breeding programme must be reconfigured to maintain a small population of genetically valuable progenitors in captivity and produce only specimens that can be used to carry out qualitative genetic management of the populations that have been reconstituted in Portugal and Spain,” concludes João.
For Spain and Portugal, the reintroduction of the Iberian lynx continues to be a cause for celebration for both locals and wildlife enthusiasts. Not only does it signify the success of conservation efforts, but it also highlights the importance of preserving our natural world for future generations. With continued support and dedication, we can ensure that this iconic species remains a cherished part of the Iberian landscape for generations to come.
Don’t miss our podcast about the Iberian Lynx Reproduction Centre to hear our interview with João Alves and find out more about this fascinating conservation project. Streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcast and YouTube on the 2nd of August 2024.
tomorrowalgarve.com/podcast-talk-about-tomorrow
