The Minister of Environment, Housing and Territorial Planning of the Government of Castile and León, Juan Carlos Suárez-Quiñones, assured this Monday that the program for the reintroduction of the Iberian lynx in the Community “is historic”, therefore it will be maintained with “ … new reintroductions”, after learning of the death of a new specimen in the province of Palencia, crushed again.
“The lynx has not been present in Castile-León for 50 years,” recalled the councilor, who emphasized that the animals come both from breeding reserves and from transfers from Castile-La Mancha, where there is a consolidated population. Suárez-Quiñones acknowledged that reintroduction carries “known risks”, such as accidents, drownings or other circumstances, but he insisted that these incidents “will be compensated by further releases” until the species is definitively established, Ical reports.
The regional manager stressed that The Cerrato Palentino provides ideal conditions for the lynx with an abundance of rabbits, its main prey, suitable terrain and low human pressure. “We want the lynx to breed in Castile and León and have a stable population again,” he said, while highlighting the benefits of the feline for farmers and hunters, in addition to its value for biodiversity.
“It is a frankly astonishing feline, very attractive and which only produces goods for the territory,” concluded Suárez-Quiñones, who reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to the program until a viable and breeding population of Iberian lynx is achieved in the Community.
The first two specimens, a male and a female, Virgo and Vuelvepiedras, arrived in Astudillo on February 17 of this year. The female is dead. In a second shipment, on March 25, another couple, Viñegra and Villano, were released, and the third entered the acclimatization enclosure of the Cerrato mountain on April 29. In total, during this period, nine felines arrived, four of which died, the last, Venadillo, a male.
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