Algarve news and information portal - AlgarveMais - First anniversary of the Iberian Lynx

Home

First anniversary of the Iberian Lynx

Silves-based Iberian Lynx reproduction centre, the first of its kind in Portugal, has celebrated one year since the arrival of the first of 16 Lynx that now live there. Five-year-old female Lynx Azahar was the first to arrive at the specially-built facility in Silves county on October 26th, 2009, followed by a further 15 felines which were all introduced to the centre by December 1st of last year. Two Lynx cubs were born within the first season at the new centre, however both died within a few days from bacterial infection and congenital problems.

Despite the set back, Lurdes de Carvalho, national coordinator for the action plan to save the Lynx, believes that the first year has been a success, marking the first proven birth of the species in Portugal in the last 30 years.

“It was a success for reproduction to occur in the first season that the centre opened, especially with an animal like Azahar, who had failed twice to reproduce in Spain,” she said.

Alexandra Cunha from Portugal’s Nature Protection League (LPN) said: “We were all amazed that reproduction took place, because without the perfect conditions, reproduction is very difficult in this species. The work being done is within expectations, despite the deaths of the cubs.”

In March, the reproduction centre suffered another minor set back as one of the females, Espiga, came down with chronic kidney infection, a common illness among Iberian Lynx in captivity, although she recovered after treatment.

While the Silves-based centre celebrated the first anniversary of the arrival of its first Iberian Lynx, the Algarve University was also due to host the first seminar about the species. The two day event held on Thursday and Friday and organised with LPN aimed to promote the exchange of information between professionals who work with the Ibeiran Lynx.

Part of the seminar was also due to be dedicated to raising awareness among the general population, in order to prepare for the final phase of the project, which foresees the release of Iberian Lynxes into the wild.

Iberia’s Lynx population stood at around 1,200 specimens in 1988, which gradually fell to just around 200 in 2005, making the Iberian Lynx one of the most endangered animals in the world.

source: http://www.theportugalnews.com

< Prev		Next >

Algarve news and information portal - AlgarveMais is not in any way affiliated with or endorsed by the Portuguese algarve mais magazine. You can access the magazine website here
O portal informativo Algarvemais não está relacionado nem têm qualquer ligação com a revista algarve mais. Poderá encontrar o website da respectiva revista aqui
Copyright © 2005 - 2012

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.
Name: *
Username: *
E-mail: *
Password: *
Verify Password: *