Lynxes back in Algarve

It was a little after 4pm when António Cantizano, 42, drew up in his white jeep from the «Parish of Andaluzia» in front of the new home for Iberian lynx in the Algarve.

Concerned for the well-being of his feline passenger, this driver with experience in transporting exotic animals spared no effort to guarantee the lynx’s comfort. He’d hung his jacket up to block the sunlight, turned on the air conditioning to keep her cool and didn’t stop cluck-clucking with concern until he saw the animal safely out of its 85 centimetre cage.

The journey had gone well – thanks to the care of Iñigo Sanchez, the Spanish vet who accompanied the wild cat on the 300-kilometre trip, taken non-stop to Silves from Jerez de la Fronteira’s Zoobotânico.

But the going had had its moments – with various journalists and other guests getting lost along the way to Herdade das Santinhas. Informative signs had had to be taken down – because of the number of people in the area who thought perhaps they could see these endangered animals up close. That cannot be. The bio-security protocol surrounding lynxes excludes visitors from reproduction centres. This is a species that is very sensitive to noise and stress, and, as far as we could gather, is treated with the minimum of human intervention.

This particular female wasn’t born in captivity. She arrived in Jerez in 2006, after being found, badly wounded, in the nearby mountain range of Sierra Morena. With care and veterinary attention, she made a full recovery and now weighs around 10 kilos. She’s never had cubs. The feeling is that the urban influence on Zoobotãnico’s environment played a part in this failure to reproduce.

After her arrival - and the resulting delay which made everyone nervous – Azahar was carefully introduced into a fenced area measuring around 1.000 square metres and offering various structures for lynxes to hide and exercise/ play in. Four more lynx should be arriving before the end of the week – the last of those expected due to arrive on 1st December, bringing the total in Silves up to 16.

Only the most important Portuguese and Spanish officials involved in the exercise were allowed into the compound to watch the lynx’s first moments. Before they went in, they had to sterilize footwear and put on protective clothing to prevent any form of biological contamination to the animal.

From a distance, a battalion of journalists followed everything via a computer that received real-time images from the surveillance cameras placed throughout the compound.

These cameras are indispensable for the work of biologist Catarina Ferreira, 31, who is responsible for studying and monitoring the behaviour of the lynxes. Azahar’s first moments were full of agitation, meaning she’ll need special attention over the coming 48 hours.

In all, a young, specialised team of nine people work at the centre: five handlers, two vets, one administrator and the director, Rodrigo Serra, 34 - a specialist in wild cats who has been linked to the project for the last five years.

Regarding the future introduction of the lynx into Nature, Tito Rosa, president of the ICNB (the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Biodiversity) explains that it’s “not possible to give a date. It’s not just about releasing the animals into the wild. It’s also about creating conditions that will allow them to live in a self-sustainable way – and for this to happen, we need to work very hard”.

“At the moment, there’s an ICNB study underway analysing various factors – like the availability of the wild rabbit, and other variables – which will help us come to a conclusion on the most appropriate areas”, Serra added.

There are four areas where the lynx could potentially live in the wild – most of them along the border with Spain: the Serra da Malcata (in the interior Beira), the Serra de São Mamede (upper Alentejo, within the Portalegre district), the Barrancos area (lower Alentejo), the valley of the river Guadiana and here in the Algarve, in the Caldeirão and Monchique mountains.

“The most important conditioning factor is the existence of food. Another is vegetation. Finally, and very important, are the human populations that live alongside the lynx in their territory – even though the lynx is an animal that likes to keep out of sight” Tito Rosa adds. “Hunters must learn that the lynx is not a competitor”, he concluded.

But beforehand, there are a lot of challenges ahead. The lynxes’ relationships with each other, their new surroundings and their new handlers will all take time to settle. Reproduction is also not an easy task. The centre will be trying to match pairs on the basis of genetic criteria – but the animals will also have to feel that certain chemistry between them before this happens.

Talking to our newspaper, Rodrigo Serra admitted he would like to see young born as early as this year - but he admitted it would probably only happen during the next reproductive cycle, between January and July.

The lynx’s gestation period is only two months, and their young reach independence between seven and 10 months. Lynxes can live up to 16 years. In neighbouring Spain, there are 75 Iberian lynx in captivity, and approximately 250 living in the wild.

The Silves reproduction centre was established to compensate for the environmental impact of the Odelouca dam, and has been promoted by «Águas do Algarve». It was a proviso imposed by the EU – and a condition which freed work on the dam from a three-year embargo spearheaded by environmentalists. Opened last May, the centre is surrounded by an area of 150 hectares and cost a total of €11.1 million.