The reintroduction program of the Iberian lynx in the Region of Murcia reaches a milestone with the birth of four cubs in the Tierras Altas de Lorca. This is the first confirmed litter of the year, consolidating the area as a biological corridor for the species. The Life Lynxconnect project has improved the habitat and environmental conditions, allowing this feline, once on the brink of extinction, to find a stable home in the southeastern peninsula.
Life Lynxconnect: technology and management to save the most threatened feline 🐾
The success in Lorca is no coincidence. The Life Lynxconnect project has applied GPS tracking and camera trapping techniques to monitor released specimens. Additionally, habitat improvements have been carried out, such as installing rabbit warrens, their main prey, and creating ecological corridors. Population management is supported by a data model that predicts territorial expansion, allowing adjustments to releases and minimizing the risk of roadkill, one of the main causes of mortality.
Four lynxes who have no idea of the bureaucracy they have avoided 😂
While the four cubs are busy doing their thing, which is biting ears and tumbling around, the project technicians celebrate as if they had won the lottery. And for good reason: they have managed to get wild felines to breed in an area that a decade ago seemed like a desert for the species. The best part is that the lynxes have no clue about the reports, permits, and meetings it took to bring their parents here. They only know that the rabbit is tasty and the scrubland is vast.