The Life+IBERLINCE project releases two Iberian lynxes in the reintroduction area of Guarrizas

The children of the Palacios Rubio de la Carolina school welcome Snow.

The 2016 census, still to be completed, could reach 400 copies only in Andalusia.

Two female Iberian lynx specimens were released this morning at the 'Hueco Bajo' estate, located in the municipality of La Carolina (Jaén), in one of the Iberian lynx reintroduction areas in Andalusia. This farm has been part of the project since February 2010, when it was agreed. The two released specimens, Nebraska and Snow, have been selected genetically among those born in captivity to be able to enrich the genetic variability of this area.

At the ceremony, chaired by the Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, José Fiscal, have participated the fifth-grade Primary School students of CEIP Palacios Rubio, located in La Carolina (Jaén). Precisely, these students were those who chose the name of Snow to baptize one of the lynxes that have been released. The other, Nebraska, was baptized through the proposals of the followers of Iberlince in social networks through the initiative #BautizaUnLince.

The reintroduction of these two copies of Iberian lynx are the first that the Life+IBERLINCE project does in 2017, in which are expected the release of six others in the areas selected by the technicians as suitable. In Andalusia, the areas of reintroduction are the valley of the river Guarrizas (Jaén) and the Guadalmellato (Cordoba), where today there are already established populations.

These areas were chosen for reintroduction because of their quality of habitat, high rabbit densities and strong social support for reintroduction, among which the collaboration of the owners of the private farms and the societies of hunters who manage lands where Concentrates the bulk of the lynx population.

It is in these areas that the Iberian lynx has grown the most, thanks to the success of the reintroductions and that these areas of the Sierra Morena relate to each other and with Almuradiel (Ciudad Real).

Nowadays, and when the census of Iberian lynxes of 2016 has not yet been closed, there are 389 copies in Andalusia, which could reach 400 once the annual report is completed.

Outside the limits of Andalusia, during the last year, 86 specimens were registered between the reintroduction zones of Portugal, Extremadura and Castilla La Mancha.

The Life+IBERLINCE project also has a considerable impact on the environment in which it is developed, beyond what concerns the conservation of the species, since it generates important indirect benefits through the development of tourism companies of Nature and in parallel in hotel and catering. Directly, it has resulted in 61,619 possible wages in Andalusia alone and 70 permanent jobs.

On the other hand, we must emphasize the close collaboration between the owners of farms and the Junta de Andalucía in the conservation of the Iberian lynx, which translates into more than 200 signed collaboration agreements. Therefore, in 2016, the Junta de Andalucía, as coordinator of the Life+IBERLINCE project and the two previous LIFE projects, received the European Citizenship Red Natura 2000 award last year.