The territory of Spain housed many populations from Iberian Lince to the last century. Various threat factors caused by humans such as random yacht, the disappearance of the habitat and the decrease in the populations of wild rabbits, caused the disappearance of the latest populations of line Iberian.
To Help the species of repair are carried out reintroduction programs In various autonomous communities. The first step is the definition of the potential areas, according to the criteria set in the national strategy for the preservation of the line.
The applied methodology to re -populate the areas where the endemic species are, was elaborated in the LynxConnect Project Frame Frame. It is a methodological proposal for the evaluation and selection of future reintroduction of the line Iberian.
Restore the population of Lynx in Spain
Virgin and return, two Iberian Lynx raised in the El Acebuche Center (Huelva), Managed by the National Parks Autonomous Agency (OAPN), they were released today because of the reintroduction in Astudillo (Palencia). This Monday the “soft loose” of the two copies, a man and a female is executed. They are released in a fence of adjustment, in which they stay between 20 days and a month, To then be released to nature.
The State Secretary for the Environment, in a subsequent action in the city of Astudillo, has the restoration of the line. “This species has become an emblem: when a society wants, it is possible. He is about to die out and was no longer considered ‘in danger’. It is not that he has recovered the splendor he should have, but we are on that path. The step that Castilla Y León takes today is a new step in that direction, “he said.
Moreover, Morán has emphasized the importance of work that is being carried out in breeding centers in captivity that Oapn manages. “Both Linces That they released today come from the center El Acebuche, a center where a long task started for years of work, where all the scientists have worked managed to return to the areas a species that should never have disappeared. To move forward in that direction, it is necessary to attend science and make decisions based on that. Science was able to recover some kind that we all had to the edge of extinction, “he said.
High territorial participation
At the meeting of the working group of the line Iberian, held on October 31 last year, the distribution of the copies was born in the breeding centers in 2024. Of these 23, six will be distributed in Castilla y León, In the new reintroduction zone of Palencia Cerrato. Four come from the OAPN and two from Portugal breeding centers.
In addition, five copies will be distributed in Castilla-La Mancha, to The new reintroduction zone of La Veguilla and Sierra Jarameña (Cuenca); Five copies in the Murcia region, assigned to the reintroduction zone of Lorca Land; Five copies in Andalusia, in his reintroduction area of Sierra Arana and two copies in Extremadura.
Maintenance and care for the species
The census works from line Iberian (Lynx Pardinus) In Spain and Portugal before 2023, they have shown that the species has surpassed the barrier of the 2,000 copies, with a new maximum number because a detailed follows of its populations is performed. The population of line It continues to expand, both numerical and territorial: all There are 14 different geographical areas where the species reproduces And there are new areas of stable presence in the Murcia region and in the provinces of Albacete, Badajoz, Toledo and Ciudad Real.
The tendency of the population has been positive and continuously since 2015, so that we can remain optimistic about the Reducing the risk of extinction of the Iberian Lince that assumes. In a period of approximately 20 years, the population went from fewer than 100 copies in 2002 to more than 2,000 in 2023. And in recent years the increase is even more remarkable, because in 2020 the total population was 1,1111 Linces And three years later, almost 900 more people have been added to the Iberian population.
Care and breeding places
The Miteco manages two Iberian Lynx Captive Breeding Centers by the OAPN: That of Zarza de Granadilla, in Cáceres, and that of El Acebuche, in Huelva. Currently the two centers are a total of 67 copies in total. Of the 33 copies born in 2024, 12 will remain under the management of the Oapn in the breeding centers: nine in the Acebuche and three in Zarza de Granadilla.