Two lynx cubs born in freedom in the region of Castilla-La Mancha, in Spain, who were orphaned due to their mother being run over, arrived on June 1 at the Iberian Lynx Training and Recovery Complex of the National Center for Lynx Reproduction -ibérico (CTRLI/CNRLI), in Silves, announced today the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF).
Integrated in the Iberian network of the captive breeding program, the Portuguese Reproduction Centre, managed by the ICNF, «is the one with the best conditions to receive, recover and train specimens of Iberian lynx in these conditions», with a co-financed training complex by the Cohesion Fund – POSEUR 2020 and by the Environmental Fund, designed and built to respond to cases like this.
At CTRLI/CNRLI, «the cubs are being cared for and trained, to make them able to obtain food in nature and allow their future release in the territory of origin», explains the ICNF.
The mother of these cubs was found run over on a municipal road in Montes de Toledo, on the 17th of May. With evidence that she had given birth during the 2023 breeding season, that same day the Spanish regional authorities set up a special device for tracking the litter.
It was possible to locate and capture the two Iberian lynx cubs, about 50 days old, on the 17th and 18th of May.
After being captured, the pups were initially transported to a recovery center that is a reference for the species, in Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, where a check-up was carried out and samples were taken to determine their state of health, after which they were the transfer of the animals to Portugal, to the Center in Silves, was articulated.
"This is a concrete example of networking, coordinated between two countries that have shared for two decades the common goal of ensuring that an emblematic species such as the Iberian lynx reaches a favorable conservation status", adds the ICNF.
This cooperation has been promoted and co-financed through the financial instrument of the European Union – LIFE, within the scope of the Iberlince and Lynxconnect projects.
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