Iberian lynx comes back from the brink
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 @ 8:02 PM
A NEARLY-·EXTINCT breed of wild cat has been brought back to southern Spain after an intensive 10-year breeding plan at a conservation park in the province of Jaén.
The Iberian Lynx, described by breeders at the La Olivilla centre in Santa Elena as a 'national treasure' on the same scale as the Alhambra Palace or the mosque of Córdoba, was on the verge of dying out as recently as 2005 – only 90 of them remained in Spain, in the Doñana National Park (Cádiz province) and the Andújar area of Jaén.
La Olivilla staff release the lynx into the wild once they have matured sufficiently to fend for themselves – and an estimated 327 are now roaming around rural parts of Andalucía, Extremadura and central Spain, although some are known to have crossed the border into Portugal.
This means the species is on the way to being 'saved' completely, having recently seen its status change from 'critically-endangered' to just 'endangered'.
La Olivilla is running a conservation programme titled 'Iberlince', which has so far released some 140 lynx into the wild.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com