Limbo and Larus: Two lynx cubs in Guadalmellato

In May of 2014, Heredilla, one of the territorial females of Guadalmellato area, was hit in the road that crosses the area from southwest to north. This cub was a descendant of Diana, one of the founders’ lynx of wild origin in the reintroduction of the species in this valley. Born in the environment Navallana Reservoir, this female was scattered from his area of birth and established a territory in the south of the area. In 2014, with only three years old, it gave birth for the second time.

At the time when it was hit by the train, it was accompanied by two orphaned cubs. One particular contributor to the project that witnessed the accident, gave the notice to the project’s staff, so that a capture device was organized to try to save the puppies and raise them in captivity. After several days of waiting and watching the cubs with a capture device, camera traps and trapping cages, the result was negative and the team had to abandon the capture. In a follow-up with camera traps in the area, the results were also negative.

However and during the 2015 campaign of camera traps, two of that cubs have survived, despite its young age (of about three months) at the time of the collision, currently they are still set in the area of Guadalmellato. This particular case of Limbo and Larus shows a clear example that in areas with average densities of rabbits, the survival of the lynx (even orphaned so young) is more than possible, and it is a fact that it is necessary to extract cubs in similar conditions in the future, relying on the adaptability of the species to the environment.