'Litio', the Peninsula’s latest traveling lynx

Map updated in 2017)

Life Iberlince project teams have added 'Litio', the Iberian lynx specimen located in Catalonia on May 29th, to the list of traveling lynxes that traversed long distances across the Peninsula, demonstrating, in some cases like that of the male 'Mundo', that connection between populations is possible.

But 'Litio'’s journey has not been a unique occurrence. In May of 2017, another specimen was tracked by the ICNF monitoring team, through camera-traps, and identified as 'Mundo' -mentioned above. This specimen (who was not radiolabelled with a radio-transmitter collar because it had been born in the wild) moved from the Doñana-Aljarafe region to an area within the Serpa municipality, in Portugal, covering a distance of about 170 kilometres.

'Mundo'’s travel demonstrated the effective connection between two wild Iberian lynx populations in the Peninsula, and the existence of a natural corridor between the two countries.

The dispersal of young lynxes, before settling territories with adequate food conditions and other fellow lynxes, is a common phenomenon. Other cases of long distance travel between the two countries have been registered, in particular the lynx 'Caribou', in 2010; 'Hongo' in 2013; 'Kahn' and 'Kentaro', in 2015; and now 'Litio', who was captured yesterday in an operation led by Life Iberlince project director, Miguel Ángel Simón, who has been in Catalonia since last Monday with a team of project specialists.

The dispersion of some of these specimens, and breeding in the territory, also provides new information regarding the ability of these animals to orientate themselves in the landscape and locate one another. The long-term viability of small wild populations, such as the Iberian lynx, depends on the existence of natural connections between them, and this dispersion and encounters are important indicators in this regard, for the populations of Portugal and Spain.

The information obtained from these specimens’ movements reinforces that the strategy of the new Life Iberlince II project is not only realistic, but also possible. Knowing this dispersion data, on the other hand, will help the project’s team design the new work areas for Iberlince II in order to enhance this connectivity. This in addition to maximizing results and monetizing investments focused on habitat improvements and defragmentation, with the aim of connecting populations.

The movements of specimens between populations - in addition to providing data of great interest for the project - are paving the way for the rest of the species, by helping to draw up new action strategies for the recovery of this species in the Peninsula.