Kahh and Kentaro proved that the iberian-lynx has a great dispersion capacity

Kahn and Kentaro, two of the Iberian lynx freed in Castilla-La Mancha in the LIFE+Iberlince project have been able to show that the Iberian lynx, especially males, have a great capacity for dispersion and therefore its travel can take them up from Toledo to places as far away as Portugal or the autonomous community of La Rioja.

Thanks to the information provided by GPS collars carrying the copies and the follow-up work of the Consejería de Agricultura’s staff and the company Fomecam, with the support of the body of environmental agents have been achieved an enormous amount of information it is possible to determine the behavior of each animal, land use and other biological parameters essential for the conservation of the species.

Through these data, the LIFE+Iberlince project has noted that Kahn and Kentaro, reintroduced in the province of Toledo, have traveled greater distances, registered so far for the species, widely outperforming both copies 1,000 kilometers on the go.

The data obtained evidence that some Iberian-lynx are capable of over 25 kilometers in a single day trips, which certifies that the connection between current reintroduction areas is possible.
Remarkable is also the survivability that have demonstrated these two examples, which have alternated in their travel areas with different densities of wild rabbits, with others in which this resource, by its absence, has been replaced by alternatives dams, from rodents to deer: a behavior already documented in other areas of the feline presence, mainly large males.

These circumstances can be considered exceptional, and although it is clear that in some of these areas a lynx can survive the shortage of rabbits, also shows that it would not be possible to keep them stable and breeding populations of the species.

In the case of Kahn, from the first day of its release, it was found that it began to move westward, using the high mountain areas, which led him to cross the National Park Cabañeros to reach the region of La Jara.

It continued its displacement reaching the Tagus river and although it did not completely cross the channel, spent several days on a river island.

In the following weeks Kahn continued its way heading to the south of the province of Toledo and in the middle of February delved into the province of Caceres, at which time those responsible for LIFE + Iberlince project in Extremadura began monitoring the animal on the move by the region.

During their transit through this community, the male was able to swim across the Guadiana River to reach the end of May to Portugal, having recently crossed the Alqueva dam.

Kentaro, unlike his brother, remained longer in the environment area of liberation, remaining in the field during the first few weeks on a farm close to the release point, but in January began a dispersive moving northward away loose area until the Tagus River, the reservoir of Castrejon.
From there it traveled on two occasions to the vicinity of the city of Toledo and later, using the corridor of the Tagus River, entered in the provinces of Madrid, Cuenca and Guadalajara, reaching the reservoirs in the headwaters of the river basin, point where it crossed the river north.

Later he explored the southern provinces of Soria and Zaragoza, and after returning to penetrate in Soria, managed to reach the region of La Rioja, where it has remained since early May.
The narrow and smooth coordination among partners LIFE+Iberlince project in Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Portugal has enabled the control and monitoring of Kahn, and the collaboration with the technical and environmental agents of the communities of Madrid, Aragon, Castilla Leon and La Rioja has enabled comprehensive monitoring of Kentaro.

Another noteworthy event was the collaboration shown by most farms, both those with partnerships Iberlince located inside reintroduction areas and most frequented by lynx least have shifted, as those farms located outside areas of loose, why have traveled Bobcats have made greater dispersive movements entity.

In the moment about to turn one year from the first iberian-lynx's freed in Castilla-La Mancha, the LIFE+Iberlince project makes a positive assessment of the adaptation of these specimens in the reintroduction areas where progress has been made, with very significant recovery of the species, although there is still much work to do.