Environment releases the lynx 'Otto' in the vicinity of Fuente del Arco

This Wednesday, the Directorate General for the Environment of the Regional Government of Extremadura carried out this year’s last lynx release in Extremadura, in the Fuente del Arco municipality (Badajoz). This was 'Otto', a young male from the La Olivilla Captive Breeding Centre, who will join two other females ('Noz' and 'Namibia') already present in the Valdecigueñas area. The release was carried out by hard release, and with this new specimen there are already 41 lynxes living freely in the region (20 males and 21 females). In the project’s 4 years in Extremadura, there were 23 puppies born in the wild: 6 in 2015, 10 in 2016 and 7 in 2017, which depicts a hopeful future for the species’ survival in Extremadura. The reintroduced lynxes in 2018 are equipped with GPS location, which will make it possible to monitor the movements and uses of the territory – essential to verify possible interconnection areas with other populations in the Iberian Peninsula.

Apart from the managing director of the Environment, Pedro Muñoz, the institutional act was attended by students from the 'Gloria Fuertes' school of Fuente del Arco, who sponsored the release given their involvement in dissemination actions since the beginning of the IBERLINCE Project. This high and notorious level of involvement was also mirrored by the mayor of Fuente del Arco, who on numerous occasions hosted dissemination activities with estate owners and managers, as well as neighbours in the area.

Lynx reintroduction actions in Extremadura started in 2014 as part of the Life+lberlince project for the recovery of the historical distribution of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) in Spain and Portugal. Life+lberlince is a transnational project, co-financed 61.57 per cent by the European Union, and coordinated by the Regional Government of Andalusia. It also involves the participation of the communities of Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia; and collaborates with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environmentand; the environmental organizations CBD-Habitat, VVWF, Secem and Adenex; the hunting associations Aproca and Andalusian Hunting Federation; and the private companies Agroforex, Fomecam and Acajú. We thank estate owners; the Extremadura Hunting Federation; and various administrations such as the Civil Guard - SEPRONA, local councils, Provincial Councils, the Ministries of Education and Employment, and Economy and Infrastructures; Environmental agents; and the University of Extremadura (UEx) for their collaboration.