Portugal has two more Iberian lynxes in the wild: “Sidra” and “Salao” | Iberian Lynx
It was the twice-Iberian run and they meet like cages behind two with freedom. In one of Altim, in the Algarve, the openings arrived with the caged people, in these openings they were enough to be preitandos, with enough proximity covers and approximations that they were observed at a fair. The first lynx, the male Hall, he had a few seconds of hesitation when Minister Duarte Cordeiro opened the cage door for him. It didn’t take until, with the choice of felines, it ran a few meters forward a lot. When it stops, it’s already far away. She still looks for a few seconds at the horizon of her new home, while wagging her short tail, as if getting used to it. And she goes on her way, until she disappears through the bushes.
While the lynx took the first pictures in the wild, the female Cider, with the smallest spots on his fur, was still waiting in a cage in the van of the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF). Suspicious, she circled inside the cage as she was transported to the middle of the open, under a threatening sky of rain. As soon as the door opened, there was no moment of waiting: her escape was much faster than hers. Hall and as he ran, dust rose under his feet. It took 15 minutes before it disappeared into the vegetation. who knows close to Hallwith whom he is not related in any way.
These two lynx belong to a species threatened. By 1990, few Iberian lynx were left. That’s what decided a few years ago to reintroduce the species into nature and, since then, there have been around 200 licenses on the loose in national territory. This lynx couple is the second to be released in the Algarve. Before, he only did it in Alentejo. “We want to believe that all the work that has been done will allow the lynx to be saved from extinction”, comments ICNF president Nuno Banza. But it is an “unstable” process. It is necessary that the rabbits have food in good conditions, that above all coals, the favorite prey of the lynxes), that there is water so that they are not hunted or run over. And above all, “we need time,” he says.
The return of the lynxes to nature has been a “very successful program”, says Duarte Cordeiro, from Environment and Climate Action, who inherited the ministry just over a month ago and was in Alcoutim in one of his first actions on the ground. “In the late 90s we had around 100 Iberian lynxes and now there are around 1100 between Portugal and Spain”, he says. Therefore, “they can serve as an example for other species”, and we must “continue to invest in nature conservation”.
lynxes wear a leash so that they can be monitored at a distance in the early stages, which makes it possible to assess the evolution of the entire population of Iberian lynxes. The decision to launch licenses in the Algarve was made after seeing that the people themselves were starting to head to that region, where “conditions were found to say that the licenses are intended and to run”, where the “conditions” were found. conditions to say and to run” Nuno Banza.
In February of this year, on the day that Russia invaded Ukraine, two other lynx had been released in the same area, some five or six kilometers away: the earthquake and the Senegal. The names start with the letter S are not the result of chance: they are from the same generation, whose nomenclature follows an alphabetical order.
Maria Antonieta Gonçalves, 69, is the maid of the open field where the two Iberian lynxes have now been released, a land that is only used for some seeds for cattle. She hadn’t seen any lynx live, “only on television”, and she was one of those chosen to help lift the female’s cage door. Cider. He devalues the fact that this was the chosen area: “In some land it had to be”. As long as the lynxes “do not harm the animals”, there is no problem. But it will not be an easy promise to keep, as lynxes are carnivores and are especially fond of rabbits. After seeing the lynx up close for the first time, Marie Antoinette is laconic: “I liked it.”
The how ecosystem and with other species was one of the reasons for signing, before the release of the Iberian lynx, a collaboration agreement between the IC and the Tourist Hunting Zone of Pereiro.
Created by humans, but far from them
Although the nature lynx’s journey was short, these brown cats with “beards” and “brushes” with black fur in the pits were already long: the ear on Tuesday in a center in Cáceres, Spain. As this is an Iberian lynx, coordination is carried out between the two countries. There are calves born in Portugal that are released in Spain and calves from Spain released in Portugal, like these two licenses of about one year, which are provided by the Centro de Cría del Lince-ibérico in Zarza de Granadilla. There are no specifics for genetic licenses and genetic diversity is a very relevant aspect in this species, because only with this variability can you consolidate as a species, explains Nuno Banza. Thus, there are more chances of survival, with less inbreeding and less disease.
Other factors that increase the survival of this species in the wild are the almost zero contact with humans in the training centers. They are even trained to fear humans, as this can pose a risk when they are on the loose (by allowing them to be caught, for example). In these centers, food is not located – ib lynxes are trained to hunt, in an environment similar to what they will find outdoors. Do not associate people with food because the objective, explains the ICNF president, is the “natural reintroduction” of this species.
This is what has been done at the National Iberian Lynx Reproduction Center in Silves, about 70 kilometers from where they were released. Hall and Cider. The Iberian lynx training and recovery complex, which had an investment of around 600,000 euros, was presented this Tuesday and was also visited by Minister Duarte Cordeiro. Part of this burned down with the fire in Monchique 2018, a center that could save licenses (which had to go to Spain) and equipment.
In the premises, the permits are seen along, through the surveillance cameras. We managed to catch a glimpse of them: some rest, others lick themselves, others walk around the pens, two cubs sleep intertwined while the mother is away from the kennel. There are currently 33 licenses at this centre: 23 adults and 10 children.
The purpose is to guarantee that they have the conditions to be liberators in nature: that they are in good health, that they know how to hunt, that they have social skills with other licenses. The journey to save the Iberian lynx has a long way to go, but there is still a long way to go. “It seems that they are animals that want to be extinguished”, laughs the director of the centre, Rodrigo Serra. And he explains: they only breed once a year, almost only eat rabbits that are fewer and fewer, and “fight to the death at 60 days” with their brothers. And he jokes: “If we weren’t, we’d already be gone.”