Murcia is set to receive two new specimens of Iberian Lynx
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The couple will arrive in 15 days from breeding centres in Huelva and Jaén
The Region of Murcia is welcoming two more adult Iberian lynxes with the aim of consolidating the population in the Highlands of Lorca.
The specimens, which have passed their reproductive stage and will arrive in 15 days, are part of a series of experimental releases of the European LIFE LynxConnect project.
The pair, made up of a male and a female, come from the breeding centres of El Acebuche, in Huelva, and La Olivilla, in Jaén (Andalucía).
The news was announced by the Minister for the Environment, Universities, Research and Mar Menor, Juan María Vázquez, and the Minister for Sustainability and Environment of the Andalusian Government, Catalina García.
Vázquez stressed that the Region will be able to continue hosting the species, explaining that the two new specimens “will be integrated into the natural environment through a controlled release” in the repopulation area of Tierras Altas de Lorca.
There are only two previous references to these experimental releases with individual specimens released in the Doñana National Park and in the reintroduction zone in Extremadura.
This year, a dozen lynxes were released in the Region during the fourth phase of the LynxConnect project and the connecting corridors with some of the eight existing reintroduction zones in Spain were opened.
The project has had a measure of success, managing to increase the lynx population enough to move it from the ‘endangered’ category up to the more positive ‘vulnerable’.
However, despite best efforts the lynx population has suffered a number of setbacks recently. In just the last couple of weeks, three lynxes have died in Andalucía as a result of accidents with cars.
Since February, the number now totals 41 for Lynxes killed on the road. Some have pointed to the futility of releasing the cats when there is not the infrastructure to protect them.
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