Young lynx with eye lesions captured in Sierra de Andújar

The health assessment showed that the animal had gone blind of both eyes and its return to the wild seems inviable

Last Wednesday, July 5th, monitoring experts of the Life+IBERLINCE project in the Sierra Morena community encountered a young Iberian lynx showing lesions compatible with eye cataracts.

This is the female Nublada, born within the population in 2016. Despite being over a year old, the animal accompanied the mother and her movements were somewhat awkward, which raised suspicion that her ability to survive was compromised. A network of camera traps was immediately installed for monitoring purposes, and once technicians gathered enough information, a capture device was installed in the area. On July 13, the specimen was captured and transferred to the Granada centre for the recovery of threatened species. The next day, the animal was examined by a feline ophthalmology specialist (Fidel Causse), who confirmed that the lynx was completely blind. Samples were collected in an attempt to determine the source of the problem, even though retinal lesions are irreversible.

If the specimen has no relevant diseases, she could be included in the species’ captive breeding program. At least in this case, monitoring allowed for an animal that would hardly have survived in the wild to have another chance.