The collar’s poor state hinders the reconstruction of 'Litio'‘s journey from Portugal to Catalonia

The Iberian lynx specimen is in good shape at the Endangered Species Recovery Centre in Granada

The poor state of the tracking collar carried by 'Litio' (the Iberian lynx located a few weeks ago in the Baix Llobregat region) is making it difficult to reconstruct this specimen’s route from Portugal (where it was released in 2015 by the Life Iberlince project) to Catalonia. This morning, ICNF specialists confirmed this upon noticing that 'Litio'’s collar had been bitten and its interior was wet.

Due to this situation, the collar’s GPS data has been lost, thus making it impossible to determine the route, as planned from the moment of the specimen’s capture on June 6th. This operation was led by the project director, Miguel Ángel Simón, and involved Iberlince project specialists, rural agents, members of the Fauna and Flora Service of the Generalitat, and the Santa Coloma de Corvelló City Council.

The goal of this rescue operation, once the animal had been captured, was to examine it, analyse the collar’s GPS the data, reconstruct the specimen’s journey and evaluate if it should be returned to the area in Portugal where it was first reintroduced in May 2015, and which the lynx had already abandoned in 2016. In May of that year, ‘Litio’ was located in Huelva showing symptoms of maladjustment to the environment, and was returned to Portugal, where he was reported missing 19 months ago.

In order to rescue 'Litio', Iberlince specialists strategically placed three cage-traps and veterinary equipment, using a rabbit as bait to attract the specimen. A veterinarian from the Torreferrussa Wildlife Recovery Centre and specialists from the fauna service of the Generalitat were present during the operation.

After his capture, Litio was transferred to the Endangered Species Recovery Centre (CREA) in Granada, where he remains awaiting release, and where he was also examined and deemed to be in good condition.

Litio was born at the El Acebuche captive breeding centre, in Huelva, and released in May 2015 within the Herdade das Romeiras estate, in Mértola (Portugal). Although he seemed to have a stable territory, he left the area in March 2016 and was detected in the Doñana area, in the Huelva province, displaying signs of illness. Once recovered, he was reintroduced in Mértola in October 2016, where he remained until he went off track 19 months ago.