First Iberian lynx couple released into wild in Algarve

Two Iberian lynxes were released into the wild in the Algarve area on Thursday afternoon.

The lynx is a wildcat as we know that uses the Iberian Peninsula has a natural habitat.

Named “Sismo” and “Senegal” (male and female) they were born at the El Acebuche reproduction center in Andalusia, Spain, and were set free in the eastern Algarve municipality of Alcoutim, at the Portuguese Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF).

This brings the Iberian lynx number living healthy in the wild in this institute to 22.

The reintroduction of this endangered species into the wild started seven years ago. Around 200 are now living in the wild, spread out across the Vale do Guadiana, Alentejo and Algarve regions.

The institute attributes this success to several factors, namely the “collaboration of the landowners and managers of estates and hunting areas, the sustainable management of territory, the abundance of wild rabbits, the favourable attitude from locals regarding the presence of the animal and the connectivity of the lynx population in Vale do Guadiana with other populations in Spain,” which ICNF describes as “fundamental to increasing genetic variability.”