Wild Iberian lynx population in Portugal rises to 109

A couple of Iberian lynx were released on 6 March in the Guadiana Valley, in Alentejo, raising the number of the species living wild in Portugal to 109, according to the ICNF.

The couple to be released are the male Quinde and female Quisquilla, who were born in captivity in 2019, at the Iberian Lynx Breeding Centre in El Acebuche, in the Doñana National Park, Andalusia, Spain, a source of the Conservation Institute of Nature and Forests (ICNF) told Lusa news agency.

The two lynxes were released with emitter collars at 10am in the Corte Gafo area, Mértola municipality, Beja district, in the area of reintroduction of the species in Portugal - the Guadiana Valley - and while living in the wild they will be monitored by a ICNF team.

The release is the second of this year in Portugal after three lynxes were released on 18 February, the source said, stating that the ICNF expects to release a total of seven animals this year (three females and four males).

According to the source, the ICNF estimates that the population of Iberian lynx living free in the wild in Portugal is made up of 107 animals identified and monitored, a number that now rises to 109 with the release of Quinde and Quisquilla.

