The lynx in Spain is growing at such a speed that it has appeared in an unexpected place: Euskadi

An Alava rancher checked his photo-trapping camera last December. He was looking for genets, badgers or wild cats on the plot he has in Campezo. And he found biological gold. The unmistakable brushed ears and sideburns make it clear: the video in question It shows for a few seconds the presence of a lynx in the middle of the night.

A tourist from the south. The Hontza Natura Elkartea association spread the image and the environmentalist offices raised their eyebrows: something like this had not happened in more than a hundred years. The boreal lynx inhabited the Aitzkorri-Aratz mountain ranges, the Gorbea massif or Valdegovía at the beginning of the twentieth century. But this is different, it is a Lynx pardinuspure and simple Iberian lynx. The same one that is being tried to reintroduce in the Valencian Community.

And he wears a radio transmitter collar. Apparently, it comes directly from the south of the Iberian Peninsula, crossing half of Spain without a train ticket – it is not in vain that they can travel up to twenty-five kilometers a day. Hence, this presence in Álava marks a brutal biological milestone… and opens a crack in the debate on the recovery of wild fauna.

Avoiding extinction. It was close and literally. There were less than one hundred copies left at the beginning of the 2000s and today they exceed 2,700. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MITECO) he stuck out his chest before Europe with their official censuses, consisting of specimens in Zaragoza, Palencia or Cuenca. The WWF Spain celebrated also the success of the Iberlince program. The specimens released in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura have managed to settle. And the natural expansion towards Aragon or the northern plateau demonstrates feline adaptability.

However, this Disney story with a happy ending should also be read from rural sociology. Because this feline depends almost exclusively on the wild rabbit. 90% of your diet. Diseases, such as myxomatosis or viral hemorrhagic fever decimated its population. 212 died from accidents. And, when hunger strikes, the animal will seek new territories. That’s where the real problem begins. At some point, people will target the lynx.

Beautiful and problematic. PACMA warned of the risk. Animal activists denounce deaths due to vehicles being run over and demand urgent and effective wildlife crossings. Ecologists in Action pointed out another enemy: illegal and poaching. Snares, poison and shooting kill dozens of cats a year. Artemisan Foundation, voice of the hunting sector, defended another position: that hunters have absolute control over predation in their reserves. When rabbits are scarce, lynx compete directly with shotguns.

The school story has clothed the lynx with sympathy. He enjoys good press, with that amber look that is touching. Let’s take as an example the hatred suffered by the wolf or the brown bear. The demonstrations by ranchers against the wolf have paralyzed roads in Cantabria—although the story changes little by little–. The bear, in the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian mountain range, falls even worse. After all, the lynx weighs less than fifteen kilos, is elusive and rarely attacks larger livestock or calves, settling for partridges, rabbits and, if lucky, some absent-minded chicken.

A close precedent. The wild boar is the best example in Spain. A couple of decades ago, seeing a wild boar brightened the day of a Sunday hiker. Today they affect crops on the plateau and cause fatal accidents on secondary roads, becoming an urban drama. The Generalitat of Catalonia declared constant hunting emergencies due to overpopulation. So the animal went from being a majestic pig to an official and destructive pest. Raids have been carried out for five years.

Germany underwent an identical metamorphosis with the gray wolf. Politicians celebrated its return as an unprecedented ecological triumph and Berlin urbanites designed welcoming campaigns, until the shepherds of Lower Saxony suffered the direct consequences. German Green and Conservative Parties Now Openly Debating Lethal Hunting Quotas.

Canada saw how the populations of pumas and black bears They multiplied near high-income residential areas, where cities like Vancouver or Banff celebrate their mystical connection with nature, until they began attacking pets, scaring children in public parks and sneaking into gardens.

The shadow of the Iberian lynx. Seeing how it is expanding, with Álava as the tip of the spear, the question is whether beyond the Gorbea massif they will begin to sneak into private farms with greater frequency, whether they will hunt poultry and attack small rabbit farms. Hontza Natura Elkartea documented the discovery but Euskadi lacks an official reintroduction plan for this species. And we want wild and vibrant nature, yes, but away from our garage, without personal risks.

Image | Flickr (Gerardo González Fernández)

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