Effective connection between populations of Iberian Lynx in Portugal and Spain

A male Iberian lynx from the wild population of Doñana in Spain was detected in Portuguese territory during the month of April near the territory of a female specimen of the Guadiana Valley population, where, at the moment, some cubs are living.

The male lynx was detected by the technicians of the follow-up team of the ICNF through photo-framing and was identified thanks to its individual coat pattern. This is the lynx called "Mundo", by Andalusian technicians from the LIFE Iberlince project (LIFE+ 10 / NAT / ES / 000570), last located in November 2016 in the Doñana-Aljarafe area, which went north Until a zone of the county of Serpa. This male, who was born in the field and was not tagged with radio-emitter collar, is 2 years old, and will have carried out a journey of about 170 km. He found the female "Malva" in Portugal, reintroduced in 2016 in the Guadiana valley, and will have mated in December. "Malva", that was released in the municipality of Mértola on February 19, 2016, routinely monitored by ICNF Technicians and Nature Watchers, would have migrated to an area north of the reintroduction area in the Guadiana valley. This female, now confirmed as a reproductive ome, has remained, since March, stabilized in a quiet territory located near the river Guadiana, in the county of Serpa and is kept next to its cubs. The traces found in the field and the photo-framing indicate that the male remains close to this female, so it is highly likely to be the progenitor of the new litter, the first to be detected in 2017.

This double occurrence and the meeting of the two lynxes, proves the effective connection between two wild populations of Iberian lynx in the Iberian Peninsula, with the existence of a natural corridor between the two countries, which allows the occurrence of a genetic flow of the population of Doñana, incorporated in the new population center of the Guadiana Valley, through the contribution of the male "Mundo". Until now it has been thought that the well-known natural population of the Doñana National Park was dangerously isolated from other areas of lynx occurrence and many animals, born there, could not achieve a successful dispersal. This case of Baixo Alentejo indicates that the viability of lynx in this area of Spain may also depend on Portugal.

The dispersal of young lynxes, before stabilizing territories with adequate food conditions and the presence of congeners, is a common phenomenon and other cases of long-distance travel between the two countries have already been confirmed, namely Caribou lynx in 2010, Hongo, in 2013, Kahn and Kentaro in 2015, Litio in 2016 but in which the risk of mortality is high. In fact, two of these animals ended their travels run over in Portugal. This novelty of dispersion, coupled with breeding in the territory of the Lower Alentejo, is a success story and also brings new data on the animals' ability to orient themselves in the landscape and locate each other. The long-term viability of small wild populations, such as the Iberian lynx, depends on the existence of a natural connection between them, and this dispersion and encounter is an important indicator in this sense for the two populations of Portugal and Spain.

The population of Vale do Guadiana currently has 12 subadults and adults with territory already established, five lynxes born in the spring of 2016 and, from now on, with the new offspring of 2017, descendants of breeding females such as Malva.

The LIFE Iberlince project, co-financed by the European Commission, which brings together Portuguese and Spanish public and private partners, aims to recover the historical distribution of the Iberian lynx in Portugal and Spain, where it had disappeared. Under this project, more than 170 lynxes which has led to the creation of about 150 jobs, by implementing actions such as the lynx tracking and habitat management. The conservation of the Iberian lynx, as a "hat" species of Mediterranean ecosystems, contributes to the preservation of many other species of flora and fauna, also constituting an opportunity to promote the territories where it occurs.