In Portugal, the Iberian lynx release season begins today, with the release of two of seven young lynx of a species considered “Critically Endangered” Portugal being released, in a program that “will continue until the end of the month, in the reintroduction area of the Guadiana Valley ”.
According to the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), the young lynx to be released “were born in 2020, in three of the four captive breeding centers in the Iberian Peninsula”.
Two male youngsters come from El Acebuche and three females from La Olivilla, in Andalusia, Spain, with the two other male lynx were born at the ICNF National Lynx Breeding Center, located in Silves, Algarve.
“The release areas defined for 2021 were selected based on technical criteria for the existence of adequate habitat and availability of food for the lynx and counted on the valuable collaborations of the Infantry Regiment No. 1 of Beja and the Municipality of Mértola , translated into the permission to carry out part of the releases, on land under its jurisdiction ”, points out the ICNF.
The institute explains that 2020 was “particularly favourable to the lynx in Portugal, with the birth of 60 cubs in the natural environment and the establishment of 18 breeding females with stabilized territories”, making the Guadiana Valley one of the “most successful reintroduction areas a Iberian level ”.
“In fact, six years after the beginning of the reintroduction of the Iberian lynx in Portugal, this population shows a sustained growth, gathering more than 150 specimens that are distributed over almost 500 square kilometers”, he adds.
The ICNF notes that, for this situation, “the collaboration of owners and managers of farms and hunting areas has contributed, sustainable management of the territory, the abundance of wild rabbit, a favourable attitude shown by the local population to the presence of the lynx and the connectivity of the lynx population in the Guadiana Valley with those present in other areas of Spain, which is essential for increasing genetic variability ”.
The reintroduction area in Portugal was selected in 2014, within the scope of the LIFE Iberlince project.
The Guadiana Valley area comprises territories in the municipalities of Mértola, Serpa and adjacent areas, where the lynxes have naturally dispersed, located in the municipalities of Alcoutim, Castro Verde and Beja
According to the ICNF, “these areas are now being consolidated, expanded and interconnected within the scope of the new LIFE Lynxconnect project, led by the CAGPyDS of the Junta de Andalucía, started in September 2020”, and which, in Portugal, brings together as partners , in addition to the ICNF, the Baixo Alentejo Intermunicipal Community and the Infrastructures of Portugal.
ICNF says that, “in 2017, as a result of the work carried out by Spain and Portugal, the conservation status of the Iberian lynx in the Iberian Peninsula went down one level, becoming 'Threatened'”. "However, in Portugal its status remains unchanged, remaining as 'Critically Endangered'," they added.
Original article available in Portuguese at http://postal.pt/
