Lynxes return to northern Spain

Two more Iberian lynxes bred in captivity are being released in a rural area of northern Spain.
The young male and female, named Villano and Viñegra, are set to join two others freed earlier this year at El Cerrato in Castilla y León region.

It is the first area chosen in northern Spain for the reintroduction of the Iberian lynx, part of the national project to extend the range of this iconic cat.
The regional government’s environment department explained that the lynxes spend a month in an acclimitisation area before they are definitively released into the countryside.
The first two, which arrived in February, have now gone into the wild.

Councillor for the environment, Juan Carlos Suárez-Quiñones noted that they are under daily observation with the help of GPS collars to make sure they are acclimatising correctly.
He said they are still in the area where they were released and have not ventured further afield.
Villano and Viñegra will join them in a few weeks and another two lynxes bred in captivity will be brought in during the spring.

The councillor explained that it was important that residents and visitors did not bother the cats so they can ensure a stable population of Iberian lynx can become established in this area, which is predominately in the province of Palencia.
His department is overseeing the construction of pools so the cats have a ready source of water at all times of the year.
Sr Suárez-Quiñones noted that a two-year study was carried out which found an abundance of rabbits that could support a population of lynx.

The Iberian lynx had been facing extinction at the turn of the millennium, when there were less than 50 of the native cats left in Spain.
Since then the EU-funded breeding in captivity programme and other measures have led to a remarkable recovery.
Figures released by the ministry for the ecological transition (MITECO) last year show that 2,021 lynxes were counted in Spain and Portugal in 2023.
Most of the population is found in two regions; 43.6% in Andalucía (755) and 41.3% in Castilla-La Mancha (715). The remainder are in Extremadura (253) and Murcia (seven), with 291 in Portugal.