Life+Iberlince technicians remove two Iberian lynx cubs from the field after symptoms of maternal abandonment

The Iberian Lynx Breeding Center of Acebuche counts this season of 2017 with two extra puppies for their breeding coming from the wild population of Doñana. These two animals, litter brothers, have a high genetic value, according to the advisory group on the subject, for the population of the Captive Breeding Program of the Iberian Lynx. But this has not been the main reason for its extraction of the natural environment.

"Iris" is an adult female lynx of the population of Doñana of at least ten years age. In its extended life only five descendants have been known, of which only one has survived until the adult age and three lost them with less than two months of life in 2016 without knowing the cause.

In 2011 and 2013 Iris showed reproductive behavior, without finally being detected puppies in its territory. All this information shows the concern about the qualification of this female for breeding puppies.

This season of 2017 Iris had two cubs in a safe place of its territory. In the face of the suspicion that these animals, 6 days old, were found unattended (in the last 3 radio-locations of the female had been detected away from their puppies), were checked in the field by personnel of the project Life+IBERLINCE and of the Program of Captive Breeding and returned to its place again. From that moment, a continuous monitoring device was activated to check, from a prudential distance, if the female returned with her puppies. After 14 hours of unsuccessful waiting it was decided to intervene, finding the puppies hypothermic and with fly-laying, but still alive.

Fortunately, the difficult decision to remove these puppies from the field were taken just in time, and are now safe and sound at the Iberian Lynx Breeding Center of Acebuche where they will bring genetic variability to the captive population and future reintroductions.