The Missing Lynx (The Guardian) Good article. “Ten years ago, there were barely 100 Iberian lynx left. But an innovative Spanish conservation programme is rescuing them from the edge of extinction”

And this story about ancient giant bunnies from Menorca reported in The Scientist

The skeletal remains of a 26-pound rabbit was found on an island off the coast of Spain. Dubbed the Minorcan King of the Rabbits, this ancient rabbit lived approximately three to five million years ago and now adds evidence to a curious rule concerning the evolution of animals in islands. The so-called “island rule” states that big animals will get smaller and small animals (such as rabbits) will get bigger when the population is isolated on an island, perhaps due to the lack of mainland predators. In this case, the King is a whopping six-times larger than living European rabbits, but due to a rigid spine and short legs, it was also unable to hop.

Satellite image of the Strait of Gibraltar from NASA found on Wikipedia.

Algeciras Harbor is the prominent notch cut out of the eastern end of the north shore of the Strait; the Rock of Gibraltar is the tiny arrowhead that separates the notch from the Alboran Sea. The Sierra Nevada, farther away down the Spanish coast, lives up to its name in this April scene. The difference in elevation between the Sierra Morena and the Guadalquivir River valley is highlighted nicely by cumulus clouds. Tangier, Morocco can be seen as a light-toned spot on the southern shore of the Strait, near the entrance to the Atlantic Ocean.

Two pairs of ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) have reproduced in Andalucía (Cádiz and Huelva) for the second year running, thus confirming the recolonization of the species, some fifty years after disappearing from the Peninsula as a nesting bird (and eighty from Spain). It is claimed that the osprey is the first vertebrate top achieve this in centuries but it should be said that they have been helped by a reintroduction scheme involving the release of more than 100 chicks in the last seven years, until finally a released bird joined up with wild bird. The second pair is formed by two wild ospreys of unknown origin. Between the two pairs, four chicks have been raised this year (five were fledged last year) so a round of applause to them and the people involved in the project. Crónica Verde

• See also last year’s news on this Osprey breeds in Spain

Coquineros en las playas de Doñana

The seven Iberian lynxes (four females and three males) released in December 2009 in Guadalmellato, Cordoba are breeding successfully. Three cubs have been born to one mother, and two other females are believed to be pregnant.

The seven animals were the first to be released from the lynx captive breeding programme with the aim of establishing new territories across Spain. In this first case, an area close to the main lynx  stronghold of Andújar was chosen. To make their adaptation easier, supplementary food in the form of penned rabbits has been provided – the lynxes can get in, but the rabbit can’t get out. The animals have also been fitted with radio-trackers.

The biologists in charge of the project are delighted not only with the news of the cubs, but also because no lynxes have so far died – three to four were expected to do so as they succumbed to the ordeal of adapting to their new territory. One animal has also come into contact with lynxes from Andújar which bodes well that this small population can expand.

Photo of one of the Guadalmellato lynxes on its release: El Mundo

The breeding project was dealt a serious blow with the expected death in the next year of twelve lynxes from renal disease. More here Serious blow to lynx breeding project

Bizarre photo of the month goes to the people involved in the bald ibis reintroduction programme, who released six birds this week in the Sierra de Retín (Cádiz), making a total of 24 so far this year, and 215 since the proyecto Eremita began. El País. Note: the hats, in addition to an essential fashion item this summer in Cadiz, are part of the plot to confuse the birds that they have been raised by ibises not humans.

The aim is to reintroduce the bird to areas where it has become extinct and to strengthen existing wild populations in North Africa. The last definite reference to the bald ibis breeding in Spain is from a 15th century falcony book.

See also Bald Ibis breed in Spain for first time in 500 years

• Proyecto Ibis Eremita – Zoobotánico de Jerez
• BirdLife Species Factsheet (comprehensive)
  

BBC documentary of killer whales off the coast of Cadiz attracted by huge tuna captured by the almadraba fishing technique.

From The Natural World – Wild In Spain. Unfortunately it features Micheal Portillo.

The almadraba is an elaborate and age-old Andalusian technique of setting nets in a maze that leads to a central pool called “copo”. The maze uses just two net lines, called “raveras”. One net is connected to the shore and other line is secured in deeper water. Those lines have smaller oblique lines which leads to the central pool. Tunas are not able to see the exit from the central pool and remain inside. This simple maze works because tuna tend to go into the Mediterranean during spring and the beginning of summer. The floor of the central pool is raised in order to catch the tunas and when that floor is up, there is little room for tunas and they are then caught easily and slaughtered. Wikipedia

From Dolphins and whales in the Strait of Gibraltar

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) visit the Strait of Gibraltar during the tuna migration season in July and August. At the same time Spanish and Moroccan fishermen fish for yellowfin tuna, using longline fishing technics, they lower their fishing lines, armed with several hooks, vertically to the sea bottom. This fishing procedure is possible only in a limited area, where the depth of sea is only 100 metres. Killer whales, being intelligent animals, found out that it is much easier to take a tuna already caught on a fisherman’s hook, than to race with a fish in all its strength. Fishermen must often be satisfied with no more than the head of a tuna; orcas never eat the head of the fish as it contains a metal hook. This is the most dolphin safe of all methods of tuna fishery.

The killer whale population of the Strait of Gibraltar is only 12 animals (2006). There is a photo-identification catalogue of them. They are rather difficult to observe: they can only be found easily if tuna fishermen are on the sea, and the orcas hang around them. In any other instances, whale-watchers only can come across them by chance.

I’ve just come across the remarkable true story of Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja, a boy who spent 12 years as a boy living with wolves in the Sierra de Cardeña in the Sierra Morena. His story is now being told in a new film entitled Entre lobos to be released in October.

Feralchildren.com have written this description of him:

Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja was born on the 7 May 1946, and remembers being taken away at the age of 7 by a man on a reddish horse. He believes he was sold or hired to tend goats, a not unusual arrangement for children of that age. It also wasn’t unusual for goatherds to live up on the mountains with their animals and only visit human habitation every few years.

Marcos Pantoja left on his own

Marcos worked with an old goatherd for possibly several months before the man died, but in that time he’d learnt to fend for himself in the mountains, looking after the herd of goats and ensuring they bred successfully. He made friends with wolves, and lived variously in a cave, an old hut, and a hut that he built himself.

I don’t have time to translate this at the moment but this description in El País of how he befriended the wolves is truly remarkable:

• Vivir doce años entre lobos, El País

–Yo estaba preparado con el cuchillo. La carne que yo no quería se la llevaba a los lobillos. Los padres no me dejaban, pero como veían que yo les llevaba de comer, cogieron confianza. Yo olía como ellos. Cuando yo quería que vinieran, cuando me veía que no tenía salida, empezaba a aullar. Venían varios lobos y, como se daban cuenta de que estaba perdido, se tiraban a mí dando saltos y me cogían los brazos con la boca hasta que yo reía. Empezaban a jugar. Luego me señalaban el camino hasta la cueva de ellos y, desde allí, yo ya sabía irme. Me divertía yo solo con los animales.

Y se entendía con ellos. Con sus mismos sonidos. En cuanto uno menos se lo espera, Marcos, hoy, coge una hoja del suelo y se la pone en la boca. Pij, pij, pij… El ruido que hace el águila. Y también imita el de la perdiz macho. Y el de la perdiz hembra. Marcos era uno más en la naturaleza. “Dormía con la zorra. La zorra era la primera que se metía debajo de mis piernas cuando había tormenta o llovía”. También vivió un tiempo con una camada de ratones, a los que daba leche de cabra. Y siempre planeaba por allí algún águila, a la que le troceaba los conejos o perdices que atrapaba. “Ponía la presa en un plato de aquellos de corcho y más contentos… Acariciaba a las águilas, las besaba, y se iban más contentas…”. Janer, el antropólogo, analiza estos pasajes: “Marcos no inventa, pero cubre con la imaginación su necesidad de saberse querido por alguien”.

Público

This lovely photo of Tabernas Desert in bloom was taken by Andrés Ivorra and posted originally on the forum. He notes:

“An exceptional amount of rainfall looks like snow but it isn’t. Linaria nigricans is in full flower in the desert of Tabernas. A joy for your eyes.”

I’m not sure how much it has rained in Tabernas itself but Andrés informs me that rainfall records have been smashed in Almeria capital this winter with some 400mm falling in just two months.

Check out Andrés’ site on Wildflowers of Almeria

Browsing through his site I can see it is not only about flora. It is also the best guide in English on the nature and geography of Almeria in general.

Three Iberian lynx have been run over in the last month in Doñana, one of the worst figures for years. The latest animal was a male found dead on the road connecting Matalascañas with El Rocíos. He is thought to have been dispersing in search of new territories. Almost three lynxes a year (26 in total) have been killed since 2000…And three in a single month is an utter disater. Clearly the traffic signs aren’t sufficient.  Crónica Verde

Garfio, the Iberian lynx who was captured in 2003 and begat the first brood of lynx cubs to be bred in captivity, has died this week from a chronic renal infection at the age of ten. In all he sired 11 little lynxes. El País

Photo of Garfio in action from Lynxexsitu.es. Thanks to TP on the forum who I’ve paraphrased here.

An important step has been taken this week with the release into the wild of the first Iberian lynx bred in captivity. The two animals were set free in Guadalmellato, Cordoba in the Sierra Morena. Three more are to be released soon.

Photo from El Mundo of one of the released lynx as it bounds into the freedoms of the Cordoban hills.

The transfer of captive Iberian lynx from Spain to Portgual has been completed with the arrival of two males, bringing to a total of 16 animals (11 males and 5 females) at the new breeding centre in Silves in the Algarve.

According to the latest figures from the Andalucian government, there are now some 223 lynxes in the wild in Andalucia, 63 in Doñana and 160 in the Sierra Morena. This is remarkable increase from the low point of an estimated 120 animals in 2004 (42 in Doñana and 78 in Sierra Morena). This year 21 cubs were raised in Doñaña with a total of 16 female territories. As far I know, these total figures do not include the 15 odd animals recently discovered in Castilla-La Mancha.

As for the recent deaths of two female lynxes, it seems that a violent death has been ruled out in both cases. El País

• More lynx images here from the Ex-situ Conservation Programme from where the above photo is taken.

The Sierra Nevada is one the most vulnerable sites in Europe to climate change  thanks to its position between the Europe and Africa, between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and because of its mountainous nature, with huge changes in habitat in just a few kilometres. The Park’s Observatorio de Cambio Global (above photo) has now been  selected by Unesco as one of ten sites in the world for its climate change studies. Temperatures are expected to rise by 2 degrees in the next 40 years with a fall in rainfall if 10%, reducing significantly the amount of snow with serious affects on the ski industry, irrigtation and biodiversity. El País

The Sierra Nevada is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in Europe. All five of Spain’s bioclimatic zones are present here from Mediterranean up to crioromediterraneo, supporting up to 2,100 plant species of the total of 7,000 recorded for Spain. The fact that the whole of the British Isles only support some 1,900 plants will give you some idea of why botanists get so excited about the place. More

See also (2004)

The unique plant communities of the high Sierra Nevada appear to be under threat from rising temperatures. According to the Andalucian government, a rise of 1.2ºC has been detected in the province of Granada over the last 20 years, which although not much in itself has been enough to endanger 65 endemic plants, most of which are only to be found in the highest altitudes of the range. Like its African and Andean counterparts, the pseudo-alpine habitat, known cumbersomely as crioromediterraneo in Spanish, is extremely sensitive to changing temperatures, and gradually plants are being forced ever higher in search of cold enough conditions. More

Here is the first in iberianature’s new series of the best landscapes in Spain: El Torcal de Antequera in Malaga is one of the most impressive karst landscapes in Europe. Photo by Jakub Botwicz from Wikipedia.

Image captured by Nasa’s Earth Observatory satellites last month

In a patchwork of agricultural fields outside Seville, Spain, two towers rise above the plain (at the centre of the top of the image). Nearby arrays of mirrors reflect light onto the towers, illuminating the water vapor and dust suspended in the air and creating visible beams. Within the towers, the thermal energy from the concentrated light creates steam, and the steam powers turbines to generate electricity. Known as PS10 and PS20, the mirror-tower networks are part of a larger project intended to meet the energy needs of some 180,000 homes roughly the energy needs of Seville by 2013, without greenhouse gas emissions

The Guardian

See also Dan’s lynx blog

Ospreys (águila pescadora in Spanish) have bred in mainland Spain for the first time in 80 years. Three chicks have been born in the Marismas del Odiel, in Huelva and two in Cadiz. Since 2003, 108 chicks have been released in Cádiz and Huelva from Germany (68 birds), Finland (20) and Scotland (20).  The young ospreys released in Andalusia have shown normal migratory behaviour of birds raised in their own nests in the region, and have begun to fly south to areas typical osprey areas. Radio-tracking has detected them on the West African coast along the rivers in Senegal and Gambia .The presence of huge expanses of water in Andalusia in the form of reservoirs built since then bodes well for the species future. The osprey never became extinct in the Balearics where they have clung on with 20 pairs and the Canaries with 12 pairs.

El País

The final numbers for the lynx captive breeding programme have been released in 2009. A record 18 lynx cubs have been born, 11 in El Acebuche and 7 in the new La Olivilla centre. There are now a remarkable 78 lynxes (36 born in the wild, 42 in captivity) in the programme, which is clearly on target for the first wild releases scheduled for 2010. The new centre at Zarza de Granadilla (Cáceres) is also to be built in the near future. El Mundo

Above photo is from the ex-situ website and is of Espliego one of last year’s cubs.

The programme to reintrodce the lammergeyer (bearded vulture) in the Sierra de Cazorla is continuing with the release last week of three more females. 12 birds have now been released through the technique of hacking in the range since 2006. Five chicks were also born in captivity in Cazorla this February.

El Mundo

This year’s Iberian lynx captive breeding programme is going well. Here is a quick round-up the latest figures.

11 females have so far given birth to cubs . There are now 19 surviving cubs born this year, 17 of which are being raised by their mothers and 2 are in intensive care at  El Acebuche. More detail here

On the negative side, I’d missed this bad news from Doñana in March reported on Dan Ward’s Lynxblog.

Theo, a seven year old female lynx, pregnant with two cubs, was killed by a motor vehicle on 13 March on a road between Algodonera and Laguna de San Lázaro, within the Doñana protected area. This incident follows a number of similar lynx deaths in the area in recent years, including just six months ago when a lynx was runover on the busy Almonte – Matalascañas road alongside the National Park. Moreover, Theo was killed on an agricultural road that had been recently re-surfaced and upgraded to allow traffic to drive much more quickly. Read complete article

The above photo is from the ex-situ website and is of one of last year’s cubs.

El Pais has this interesting photo report on the successful Iberian lynx captive breeding programme in Acebuche, Doñana. In the photo, the lynxes are monitored 24 hours a day by a team of biologists.

And sorry but I couldn’t resist this one of Elfo at three weeks old, the first “grandcub” to be born in the programme. He was abandoned by his mother Brisa and has been raised by the captive breeding team.

Caribú, the lynx from the Sierra Morena which was released in Doñana in November 2008 with the aim of increasing the genetic variability there, has travelled almost 200km in three months. There is no evidence that it has mated yet as it is a sub-adult.
El Mundo

Anyone know what this fishing method is called? Taken by Rafiki on the River Guadaira south of Sevilla. Answers please by email or join the forum.
Read on the forum

• Read on the forum
• Maria’s walking tours of Cumbres Verdes

Dan Ward has sent me his latest Lynx Brief, the essential periodic review in English of the state of the Iberian Lynx.

This issue looks at, among other topics, the international Iberian lynx seminar, current Iberian lynx numbers, plans for Iberian lynx reintroductions, inappropriate predator control, declines in wild rabbits and transparency of information in Castilla -La Mancha.

Some highlights which I have cropped from the original:

• On lynx numbers As reported at the III International Seminar, Iberian Lynx recovery has continued well in the Sierra Morena area just north of Andújar, Andalucía, with 40 breeding females, 55 cubs born in 2008 and 150 individuals overall. This compares with 18 females, 22 cubs and 60 individuals in 2002….As a result of this increase, the lynx area in Andújar-Cardeña has probably reached its carrying capacity and thus could provide animals for future reintroductions elsewhere. This is an unexpected, welcome and important achievement, not least because it is generally preferable to reintroduce felines bred in the wild rather than those bred in captivity (if possible) because they are more likely to be fully adapted to living in the wild.
• In addition to these in situ achievements in the Sierra Morena, the ex situ captive breeding programme has also progressed well, with 52 individuals, 24 of which were bred in captivity.
  Moreover, the ex situ population will also be able to provide 20 to 40 individuals per year for  reintroductions, from 2010. Finally, in Doñana, the lynx population seems to have remained steady in recent years, with around 50 individuals reported in total each year between 2002 and 2008. This is despite the loss of at least 9 individuals to Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV) in 2007, thanks partly to the successful translocation of a breeding male lynx from Andújar-Cardeña to Doñana in December 2007
  (see LynxBrief no. 10 and 11). Moreover, a second lynx was successfully translocated into Doñana in November 2008.
• On predator control Much of Spain and Portugal is used extensively for hunting, and this is especially true of current and potential lynx areas; e.g. 70% of Spain is covered by hunting estates (used by over 1 million registered hunters), and the majority of lynx living in the wild are situated in such estates. Moreover, techniques used by gamekeepers and landowners to kill, especially, rabbit and partridge predators have been strongly implicated in the past decline of the Iberian Lynx, and the on-going decline of many other species. For example, it is suspected that the 1990s extinction of the lynx population in Montes de Toledo, central Spain (where good habitat and rabbit populations remain) was due to the widespread use of leg traps and snares in the area.
• On rabbits and lynx One of the key obstacles to reversing rabbit decline has been that rabbits, and rabbit conservation, in Spain and Portugal have not been given the profile and attention they deserve….Fortunately, this situation has recently changed. In Portugal in 2006, national authorities re-classified the European Rabbit as “Near Threatened”, and in Spain in 2007, the species was re-classified by national authorities as “Vulnerable”. Moreover, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has also, just this year, re-classified the European Rabbit globally in its native range (Spain, Portugal and parts of north Africa) from “Least Concern” to “Near Threatened”.
• Castilla – La Mancha and transparency a lack of transparency of information has also been a key obstacle to Iberian Lynx conservation in recent years. A very current example, discussed at the International Seminar, was the presence of lynx in Castilla – La Mancha….The Castilla – La Mancha authorities have argued that they cannot release the location of their lynx because they fear attracting too many nature watchers to these areas. However, the precise location of lynx in Andalucía has been widely publicised for many years without a detrimental impact from the public….It has been alleged that the real reason that the Castilla – La Mancha government do not want to publicise the location of their lynx is actually because they are reluctant to share knowledge (and thus power), or because of a fear on the part of landowners that public knowledge of lynx presence will increase pressure for restrictions on the current use of predator  control methods. Moreover, it has also been alleged that at least one of the locations of lynx in Castilla – La Mancha is a large estate bordering Andalucía, owned by a British Lord, who allegedly has considerable influence over local authorities.

Read the Lynx Brief 12

Photo from the Iberian lynx recovery programme.

Photo from La Olivilla centre in Jaén (EFE). The latest news on the Iberian lynx bodes well for the future of the species. Speaking at the III Seminario de Conservación del Lince Ibérico in November. Urs Breitenmoser, feline expert with the World Conservation Union stated “We have gone from a critical reality of extinction to a situation of just vulnerability. El Pais.

This year a total of 82 Iberian lynx were born, including 21 in captivity, and including cubs there now may be as many as 200 lynxes in Spain, up from 100 in 2002. In addition, more than 50 lynxes are doing their bit in the various captive breeding centres. A record 13 cubs born in captivity have survived this year. The first releases of captive lynxes in the wild are set for autumn 2009 in Guadalmellato, Cordoba. El Mundo There is, however, still a very, very long way to go. It is worth remember that as late as the early 1960s there were still between 5,000 and 6,000 iberian lynxes in the Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha has confirmed the presence of lynxes the Montes de Toledo made up of at least 15 animals and 3 breeding territories. The photo below was taken by an automatic camera tracking these Castillian lynxes, which well provide vital genetic variation to the Doñana and Sierra Morena lynxes. El Mundo

Good news for the Iberian lynx. According to the Andalusian government, 61 lynx cubs were born this year in Sierra Morena, beating the record in recent years of 2006. This is more evidence that the Life Project is working. The population of lynx in the Sierra Morena could now be as high as 180 including cubs, doubling the figure for 2002. This will allow more lynx to be transferred to Doñana to avoid endogamy in the population there (though other problems will have to be solved). The news was announced during the opening of the second Iberian lynx captive breeding centre La Olivilla in Jaén. The centre has a number of large breeding cages and bigger pens for hunting. Junta de Andalucia

The official figures for cubs born in the Sierra Morena on the last seven years are:

2002 24
2003 17
2004 31
2005 29
2006 57
2007 22
2008 61

It is estimated that around 40% of these will have died in their first year. Others may have dispersed to new areas such Castilla-La Mancha.

• More lynx images here from the Ex-situ Conservation Programme

Doñana has managed to halt the mortality of the Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberto). The annual number of chicks has tripled in the last three years from 3.5 to 10.5 chicks a year according to an article by scientists from CSIC in the ‘Journal of Applied Ecology’, thanks to a reduction in the use of poison in the areas surrounding Doñana. Between 1992 and 2004 there was a dramatic increase in annual adult mortality due to an increase in poisoning in hunting areas surrounding the park. “The use of poison against generalist predators accounted for more than 54% of the total number of breeding eagles found dead since 1990, increasing annual adult mortality from 6·07 to 12·01%.”

• El Mundo
• Journal of Applied Ecology

La Crónica Verde has posted the latest figures for Iberian lynx in Doñana for 2008 complete with maps. A more positive breeding season than the disastrous recent years. 10 females had 23 cubs of which as far as is known 18 have survived. Total numbers of lynxes: 18 territorial females, 4-5 territorial males, 9 sub-adults, 18 cubs. 50-53 known lynxes in Doñana.

• Read in La Crónica Verde

“The lynx is the definitely the name of the game in the Sierra de Andujar. There are road signs emblazoned with lynx every few kms reminding you to keep your speed down, many of the farms have plaques indicating that they have signed up to the lynx conservation program, and a number of the restaurants have pictures and information about the species.”

• Read on the forum

Newly hatched turtle being measured (CSIC)

246 eggs of loggerhead turtles (tortuga boba – Caretta caretta) have hatched in the last few days on a beach in Cabo de Gata, Almeria. The eggs were taken from Cabo Verde, where a third of the world’s population of Caretta caretta lives, and form part of a reintroduction programme of the Junta de Andalucía, CSIC and the Canarian goverment (Loggerhead turtles in Fuerteventura). They have been taken to a reintoriduction sent which will raise them for the first few months to reduce mortality rates. El Mundo

It will take at least 15 years to be able to begin to measure the success of the project when hopefully some of those turtles hatched will return to the same beach as adults. Small populations of loggerhead turtle in the Mediterranean exist in the Turkey and Greece.

See also:

• Loggerhead turtle eggs to be buried in Fuerteventura
• Loggerhead turtles hatch in Almeria (October 21st, 2007)
• loggerhead turtles (Wikipedia)

Appros of nothing in particular, a story here from the Olive Press about a shepherd in Granada who uses a wild boar to control his sheep. Read