Re-introduction of the Iberian lynx, Andalusia, Spain

Summary

The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), the world's only Critically Endangered felid with just about 100 individuals surviving in two isolated Andalusian populations by 2002, has been the focus of successive EU-funded Life conservation projects since 2002, combined with a captive-breeding program launched in 2004 to supply animals for reintroduction. After identifying and habitat-improving two candidate sites, Guadalmellato and Guarrizas, near the surviving Andújar-Cardeña population, releases began in 2009-2010 using a mix of wild-caught and captive-bred lynxes (roughly 50:50) under collaborative agreements covering over 23,000 hectares of private hunting land; by January 2013, 19 lynx had been released in Guadalmellato and 15 in Guarrizas. Initial soft releases used 4-hectare pens in high rabbit-density habitat with supplemental feeding, while later releases combined soft and hard methods, avoiding soft-releases inside settled residents' territories after early fights between resident and released lynx. Telemetry and photo-trapping confirmed reproduction from the first year in Guadalmellato (two cubs) and by the second year in Guarrizas (eight cubs across two females), though first-year mortality reached 41.2% overall (47.4% in Guadalmellato, 33.3% in Guarrizas), driven mainly by vehicle collisions and poaching rather than by release method or captive-versus-wild origin. By 2012 the total wild Iberian lynx population had grown to an estimated 320 individuals. Difficulties included the high cost of mitigating road and infrastructure fragmentation, difficulty eradicating illegal non-selective hunting, and securing sufficient long-term funding. The project rates itself successful, crediting settlement and reproduction rates exceeding projections, strong local social support, and lessons on avoiding territorial conflicts that are now built into ongoing annual releases.