Recently returned from two weeks in Europe, starting with three and a half days in southern Spain. Went there with my brother to search for the critically endangered iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), which is not on display in any zoo. It is being bred for reintroduction in private breeding centers, but access to these is strictly denied. There are two small populations of wild iberian lynx left, the most endangered species of cat in the world. About 50 in Donana National Park and about 150 in the Sierra Morena range. We went to the latter, staying in the small foothills village of Las Vinas de Pinarellos (at Hotel Los Pinos). The road up from here goes to Sierra de Andujar national park and the surrounding farms, which are also lynx habitat. As you all know, cats are solitary and secretive, and seeing an elusive predator like this in the wild is a real longshot. To make the long story short, we left before dawn on our second day (Saturday morning) and after driving the gravel road to its end at a lake, decided to turn around and park at the base of the dam below the lake. There is a narrow bridge that crosses the river here, and just as we were parking next to the bridge an adult lynx was walking across it towards us! My brother shined a very bright flashlight (in spotlight mode) as it walked past and it did not seem bothered and did not run away, but just kept walking at a steady pace. I fired a series of four shots, which all had very long shutter speeds due to the low light (even with the ISO preset to 3200). Here is the first of the four. Although I was hoping for a clearer daylight shot, to be able to see this rare cat at all was quite a thrill. The fact that it walked so close to our car, maybe 15 feet away, is even better. We also saw in the area lots of red deer, several fallow deer, an otter and a couple very distant mouflon. Here is an attachment of the lynx photo.
that's fantastic, well done on seeing one. (Although the fact it didn't seem fazed by the presence of humans isn't really a good thing of course, with such a low population in such a trigger-happy culture). The only cat I've seen in the wild is flat-headed cat in Borneo (unless you want to count feral domestics )
Many years ago I visited the Coto Donana and at the Palacio (National Park Headquarters) they had one adult Lynx in an enclosure. There was a statue of one on the main driveway entrance too.
According to ISIS there are 2.2 at Zoobotanico de Jerez in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Is this true or another ISIS error?
DDcorvus is correct. They are completely off show and it is my understanding that even zoo staff are not allowed to see them, except for the few people who actually care for them.
Luck you Arizona Docent. That must have been the experience of a lifetime Photos a little blurry, but you will always have that memory. Probably a stupid question, but what kind of otter did you see?
60+ lynx are kept at three breeding centres in Spain and Portugal as well as Jerez Zoo. There have been successful reintroductions into new areas this year with breeding from those animals. Some setbacks in the captive population due to kidney disease thought to be caused by food supplementation. Further details below: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10799684/LynxBrief15E.pdf
You're very lucky Arizona Docent actually only two keepers and occasionally a veterinarian are the only ones that's have contact with the Iberian linx in the Jerez zoo.
Yes, it was european otter and yes I was very lucky. My hope is that in time (maybe ten or fifteen years), there will be enough lynx established both in the wild and in the breeding program that they will put one or two on exhibit in a zoo in Spain. I use the analogy of the California Condor, which were kept off show for emergency breeding and reintroduction, but there are now enough surplus to have public condor exhibits at three southern California zoos.
Well if there are none on display anywhere currently, I guess I was very lucky to see that one in the enclosure at the Coto Donana reserve then...
I would assume that at the onset of the conservation breeding programme for California condor zoo management also started off with off-show exhibits for intensive conservation breeding. Only at a later stage were some non-breeding individuals put on display for the general public. A similar case exists here with the Iberian lynx (given that only 150-200 exist in the wild).
that is correct. Not only were they in a non-public facility but they were also (so I have read) under armed guard to protect them from being killed by the animal rights nutters who were of the opinion that if the remaining condors weren't living wild then they were better off dead!
Very lucky indeed, as I was under the impression that one (a rescue injured cat I believe) was kept off exhibit. Was it on public display or did you get special access?
Probably the individual was a rescuee waiting on rehabilitation or ... if impossible relocation to the captive-breeding programme (I think rehab is more like the realistic option there). Coto Donana Reserve has the facilities to do so .. thankfully. Lest best: you 2 have been very lucky indeed to see Iberian lynx ... full stop.
This very interesting thread plus some recent information I have learned leads me to ask the question: Why do zoos keep so many animals off exhibit?
I saw one in an enclosure at the Palacio de Donana in 1974; friends I was birding with, went one better, and saw a wild one.
