A coordinated operation by the Regional Government of Andalusia has successfully located and captured 42 of the 46 Iberian lynx that were released last Wednesday from the La Olivilla breeding center in Santa Elena. The release was a preventive measure due to the proximity of a forest fire that threatened the facilities.
The decision to evacuate personnel and animals was made when the Emergency Plan was elevated to operational situation 1. Given the impossibility of immediately transferring the animals, the protocol for release into the natural environment was activated, allowing the lynx to seek refuge in safe areas of the surroundings, following a scheme based on the fire's origin.
This protocol was previously applied successfully in July 2017 during a fire at the El Acebuche Breeding Center in Doñana, where the released specimens were able to escape the flames and were later recaptured.
Once the fire was stabilized and the emergency deactivated, the capture team, which had been organized beforehand, has located the 42 specimens. The remaining four are expected to be found and returned to the breeding center as well.
The Ministry of Sustainability and Environment has thanked the Infoca Plan for its efforts in controlling the fire's advance. The combined efforts of the firefighting plan and the breeding center's preventive measures, such as perimeter clearing, have prevented damage to the facilities.
The Iberian lynx breeding center in Santa Elena, established by the Regional Government of Andalusia in January 2007, comprises 23 breeding facilities, as well as buildings for a clinic-laboratory, offices, artificial cub rearing, quarantine, and staff accommodation.
