Good news for this last 2007. Not a single Iberian lynx were killed this year on Doñana’s roads, in contrast to the five killed last year. This is no doubt much due to the 27 km of special fencing to prevent the lynx from crossing the road (El Mundo). Also the first lynx (a male) taken from Sierra Morena has been released in Doñana to improve the population genetic viability. (Terra)
The latest figures for Iberian lynx appear to be promising. There are now estimated to be between 200 and 250 individuals (including cubs) in Andalucia. 44 cubs were born this year in the two encalves of Sierra Morena and Doñana. Added to this is the possible existence (sorry, still need to be convinced on this) of a population in Castilla-La Mancha (CLM), made up of 15 animals (six cubs and nine adults). According to CLM authorities these lynxes were first detected in July 2002 and have since been “located” on 45 occasions. What is strange is that the official 2004 census ruled out the animal’s presence in CLM after 14,571 photo traps. If true, however, there are now between 215 and 265 Iberian lynx in Spain in the wild.
There are also now 37 individuals in the captive breeding centres which is to be increased to 60 breeding animals by 2010-, guaranteeing 85% of the genetic variability which existed in the wild in 2004. Some of these animals are to be sent to Portugal, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha for their own breeding programmes. The Portuguese government has begun to build a centre in Algarve and hopes to release lynx into the wild in the Algarve by 2019.
Note: there is considerable skepticism, to say the least in the Spanish natural history community about the CLM lynxes because of the way the news was released, the weird videos and the lack of coordination. Here’s what some people on the linceforo are saying.
Photo from Lynx Recovery Programme
Dan Ward has just sent me the latest lynx brief, the excellent newsletter focusing on the conservation of the Iberian Lynx. You can read the whole thing on pdf, but this is what he has to say on the plan to move several lynxes from Sierra Morena to Doñana:
Photo of Iberian lynxes from lynxexsitu
Plans to translocate lynx into Doñana
As noted above, it is currently proposed by the Andalucían Regional Government to translocate up to three lynx from Andújar-Cardeña into the Doñana lynx population in November or December 2007. A breeding pair of lynx might be translocated into an area previously inhabited by lynx lost to FeLV and a female lynx might be translocated into an area of Doñana inhabited by several male lynx but no females.
Studies have suggested that translocating just a few lynx could significantly raise the genetic variability in Doñana, provided that translocated lynx successfully inter-breed with local lynx. Similarly, it has been argued that removing up to three lynx from Andújar-Cardeña will not adversely affect this population. However, despite support from some individuals and groups, the translocation proposal is controversial. WWF Spain and Ecologistas en Acción, in particular, have voiced opposition to the proposal on the grounds that threats to wild lynx in Doñana – particularly from road traffic – need to be more reduced before lynx should be translocated there from Andújar-Doñana, so as to avoid the risk of any translocated lynx being killed and also to address the root causes of lynx decline in Doñana.
The Andalucían Regional Government has implemented a lot of work in recent years aimed at reducing threats from road traffic, including more fences, underpasses, signals and rumble strips, and no lynx are known to have been killed this year in and around Doñana. However, road traffic continues to travel at speeds considerably in excess of 60km/h and 90km/h limits, particularly between Mazagón and Matalascañas, between Matalascañas and El Rocio, and between El Rocio and Villamanrique. Similarly, it may just be luck and/or the numbers of lynx being significantly reduced by FeLV in 2007 that has led to no lynx being killed by vehicles this year.
Three Iberian lynxes taken from Andújar in Sierra Morena are to be released in Doñana. Key to the transfer has been the control of feline leukemia within Doñana (Consumer). As far as I know this is the first time lynxes have been moved. It seems to me that before carrying out such drastic measures they should cut the number deaths of lynx in the Doñana, i.e. sort out the problem of traffic around the park first.
The BBC has an interesting article today on Doñana and the lynx: How the EU saves, and kills, the lynx
Photo from Lynx Recovery Programme
from which I have snatched:
“Dr Astrid Vargas, famous for her work to save the lynx in Spain, shows me the control centre where they are monitored.
The lynx is like a domestic cat… with the hint of a tiger |
To my disappointment, I am not allowed to see the animals in the flesh: there is the risk of them catching diseases and becoming unsettled if there’s a stream of visitors.
But it’s entrancing enough watching them on the monitors, as Astrid tries to find the cubs by panning cameras and switching between angles.
Two cubs are out for a morning walk but eventually join their brother in their den. They cuff each other, bite and play.
A three-year-old is about the size of a cocker spaniel, and they have wonderful faces, a little like a domestic cat, but then the hint of tiger flashes through. There is something both fey and ancient about their faces, it’s probably the tufted ears and pointed beard that does it.
They are at risk partly because disease has killed their main prey, rabbits. But environmentalists say what really threatens them is that the wetlands of this national park are drying out.
“Encroachment by humans has been brutal. If we do not protect the lynx’s habitat, there’s no point in having them in captivity – the purpose of this programme is to re-introduce them into the wild,” Astrid says.
“The reason the lynx is going extinct is because of our pressure. The Mediterranean maquis is shrinking fast, the natural vegetation is slowly but surely being changed.”
Domo and Dogo two of this year’s batch of lynx cubs playing at the Doñana breeding centre. Click on the photo to see the video.
From Lynxsitu
An important part of the Lynx Recovery Programme at El Acebuche involves instilling hunting instincts among lynx cubs born in captivity. Studies on the lynx cubs in the programme show that the first contact takes place when the mother brings a dead rabbit killed by her into the den, when the cubs are 20 to 35 days old and before the cubs have been outside. Early contacts are just a cursory sniff. At 51 to 56 days old the cubs begin to play with dead rabbits and then start to eat rabbit meat, broken up by their mother, between 55 and 65 days At 52 to 58 days they begin to chase and play with live rabbits, and finally after 72 to 92 days, to kill their own prey. (PDF here) Below some pictures of the cubs in the programme learning to hunt.
Photo from Lynx Recovery Programme
Nine Spanish imperial eagle chicks have hatched this year in Doñana, following the nine of 2006. Only three chicks were born in 2005 due to the severe drought of that year, In the 1990s, an average of just three chicks were born a year. In addition to the 18 born in the last two years, five female chicks have been introduced by hacking. As with the lynx, work is being done on increasing Doñana’s rabbit population, the principal food source for the imperial eagle, with the aim of increasing the number of pairs (8 at present).
The oldest horse breed in Europe is shown to be the Retuerta, only distantly related to other breeds. Only 60 retuerta horses survive in Doñana marshes. A 4-year genetic study has shown they form the base of the genetic tree for European horses. They are also the only autochthonous breed of horse which lives in the wild in Europe isolated from other countries. el mundo
Great news! Three lynx cubs have been born in captivity in the El Acebuche centre in Doñana, the first this year. The parents are Aura, a female born in Doñana and Garfio, a male from Sierra Morena. Pairs are deliberately put together from different areas to increase DNA variety.
 
 First images of cubs
Video here from Canal Sur:
 UPDATE Another lynx, Artemisa, unfortunately miscarried Here (El Mundo)Â
 In 2005 and 2006, nine cubs were born of which six survived. More are expected this year. See also http://www.iberianature.com/material/iberianlynxnews.htm
The first two iberian lynxes have been born in the wild this year in Doñana. A second female very probably also has given birth. Last year 64 lynxes were born in the wild between Doñana and Sierra Morena.
Lynxes in Doñana need between 70 and 100 times more the present number of rabbits to survive. Lynx only present in 25% of National Park. 65% of Doñana lynxes live outside the Park, and none of these latter lynxes have survived for more than five years. Most, as you probaly know by now, have died on roads. The species could well disappear in 10-15 years in Doñana, one the world two remaining outposts. A new suplementary feeding programme is to try and tackle the issue. (CSIC) See also Iberian Lynx News
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