A total of 31 Iberian lynx specimens will be released in the Peninsula’s six reintroduction areas, in 2018

The Life+Iberlince project’s monitoring commission, chaired by Javier Madrid, the Director General of the Natural Environment and Protected Areas Management, agreed this morning at a meeting held at the Hacienda de Quinto (Dos Hermanas) to release 31 Iberian lynx specimens, 16 males and 15 females, in the Peninsula’s reintroduction areas in 2018 with the aim of strengthening the population in these areas.

Specifically, starting in February, six specimens will be released in each of the reintroduction areas, located in Guadiana Valley (Portugal), Montes de Toledo and Eastern Sierra Morena (Castilla-La Mancha), Valle de Matachel (Extremadura), as well as in the Guadalmellato valley and the Guarrizas river valley (Andalusia). In Guadalmellato (Córdoba) and Guarrizas (Jaén) the number of individuals released in 2018 will be lower (3 individuals in Guadalmellato and 4 in Guarrizas) since, in these areas, the lynx population is larger.

According to the explanation given by Life+Iberlince project director, Miguel Ángel Simón, the Iberian lynx population is consolidating in each of the reintroduction areas, and expectations set at the beginning of the project are being surpassed. Therefore, three males and three females will be reintroduced in each of these areas, with the exception of Guarrizas (two females and two males) and Guadalmellato (one female and two males).

In this light, it should be remembered that, since 2009, the date on which the first reintroductions began in Andalusia (in the Guarrizas and Guadalmellato valleys), a total of 216 specimens have been released in the Peninsula.

On another note, Simón said that, in the future, the project will work on connecting the different areas where the species is present, since "there is recorded data which indicates that, through this work, these connections shall become effective."

The European Life+Iberlince project, led by the Ministry of Environment and Territory Planning of the Regional Government of Andalusia, involves 22 partners from two countries (Spain and Portugal) and four autonomous communities (Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Murcia), as well as NGOs and private companies.