Lynx to return to Portugal after 20 years
October 24th, 2009 | by nick |
Twenty years after becoming extinct in Portugal, the Iberian lynx is to return to the country next week as part of the reintroduction programme. A female will be transferred to the new breeding centre in the village of Silves in Portugal. A total of 16 animals are to moved to the centre in the coming weeks. These animals will be used for captive breeding rather than for releases.
The first releases in the wild in Spain are now set for 2010 when 8-10 lynxes are to be released in Guadalmellato (Córdoba) and Guarrizas (Jaén). From 2011, between 20 and 40 individuals will be released a year. Público
Photo above from ex situ Iberian lynx conservation programme. Here
I’ve just come across 
Three Iberian lynxes of the captive breeding programme have died in recent weeks from a renal disease. Lynxes in the wild are thought not to suffer from this disease. 
Radio interview on Canal Ser with Carlos Sanz, perhaps the biggest expert on wolves in Spain and livestock farmer Rodrigo Peñalosa, looking at both sides of the debate around wolves in Spain.