lynx

The Iberian lynx is reconquering Spain and that is good news. The challenge now is to understand why

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In 2002, there were 94 Iberian lynx confined to two very specific points in Andalusia. It was so obvious that the future of the species was written that no one bothered to read it. And hence the surprises: almost 15 years later, There are 2,401 copies distributed across 17 nuclei breeders in six autonomous communities (and Portugal). But the most interesting thing is not that the Iberian lynx population has grown, what is interesting is that its recovery is so great that it now frequents places where it has not been seen for centuries. This is what has changed and, above all, these are the consequences. Has the situation changed that much? At least on a symbolic level, yes. Of course. In 2014, there was not a single lynx in all of Castilla – La Mancha. Today, 46% of all Spanish individuals of the species they are there and it already exceeds the Andalusian population. That is, what is happening with this feline is much more than a simple story of population growth (also 29% a year since 2020): it is a whole change in the ‘center of gravity’ of the species. And yes, it is good news. In fact, the IUCN removed it from the “endangered” species and put it on the “vulnerable” list. Is the first species to drop two (two!) categories on that list in just 20 years. Did we really not see it coming? The truth is that not only did we see it coming, it is what we were looking for. But, as I said at the beginning, the general journalistic account that has been done at the national level hides all this. In 2019, when the project started LIFE LynxConnectthe idea was precisely that: it is not enough to have many lynxes if those lynxes are controlled in only a couple of places. Recently we were talking about the very delicate situation of the immortelle of Mojácara plant that survives confined to a single beach on the Mediterranean coast. That couldn’t happen with the lynx. Therefore, the idea of ​​authorities and researchers was simple: we needed various nuclei and we needed to connect them to each other. In any case, it is not all our merit. Because, as always, climate change has a lot to do with it. The north of the peninsula is becoming drier and has greater populations of rabbits: this has meant that there are at least two towns (in Cuenca and Palencia) which are completely outside the recent historical distribution of the lynx. And if those two populations are there it is because they can be there now. In fact, experts rule out that the lynx extends to the Cantabrian coast because, simply, there are not an abundance of rabbits. Okay, and what are the consequences of all this? To begin with, the ecological balances to which we are accustomed have changed. In fact, now that rabbits have become a problemmany rural communities are waiting for the arrival of the lynx to put things in place. However, there are also numerous life safety problems (162 accidents in 2024 alone) and challenges for territorial planning. Be that as it may, the lynx is a laboratory now that the reintroduction of species is the order of the day. Also now that they arrive invasive species at a level never seen before. There is much to learn and, I fear, little time to do it. Image | Kenny Goossen | Ian In Xataka | England is experiencing an unprecedented invasion. The problem is that they are octopuses, and they are devouring everything they can find.​

The white Iberian lynx of Jaén seemed like a feat of nature. I was actually just stressed.

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In recent days, a photograph has flooded social networks and headlines. In it you can see an Iberian lynx with white fur that a priori marked a historical moment: the first case of albinism in the Iberian lynx species and precisely in Jaén and that pointed to a genetic anomaly that reduced the pigmentation of the coat without affecting the color of the eyes. But the reality has been very different (and a little disappointing). The importance. A priori, this photograph taken by Ángel Hidalgo marked something historic and could have changed the perception that biologists had of the species. But in the end it was not like that, as specialists have been able to see of the Life Lynx Connect Project: He’s just stressed and got gray hair (the same thing that happens among humans). The context. Ángel Hidalgo, 29, has been using cameras for years phototrapping to document the fauna of the southern peninsula. “When that white figure appeared on the screen, I knew I was looking at something unique. I call it the white ghost of the Mediterranean forest,” he reported on his social networks. His image, accompanied by hashtags such as #linceblanco, went viral in a few hours on social networks. At first, several media outlets pointed to a case of leucism, well documented phenomenon in birds and mammals, but never scientifically confirmed in Iberian lynxes. However, the inspectors and biologists of the Iberian Lynx Recovery Plan quickly came out to clarify the misunderstanding. “The animal exists, the photograph is authentic, but it is not leucism,” explained Javier Salcedo, Andalusian coordinator of the Plan. “This is a temporary alteration in pigmentation that may be related to high levels of stress or an episode of physiological weakness. It is completely reversible and does not pose a risk to the health of the specimen.” When stress dulls the color. The color of mammalian fur depends on the amount and type of melanin synthesized by cells called melanocytes, as occurs in humans. A melanin that is highly controlled by different hormonal pathways that are sensitive to many external factors such as cortisol that can partially block the activity of melanocytes. The problem in this case is that cortisol is known as the stress hormone, and therefore greater stress reduces the activity of these melanocytes. This phenomenon has been described in a wideo range of animals, from laboratory mice to arctic foxes and primates, in published studies in Nature, Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research either Scientific Reports. Even humans experience it: the well-known “grayness due to stress” responds to the same mechanism. In the case of the Iberian lynx, an animal especially sensitive to disturbances in its environment, a prolonged period of tension—due to territorial competition, scarcity of prey or human noise near its breeding areas—is enough to activate these processes. Lessons from a biological mirage. The media commotion also reflects a contemporary phenomenon: how social networks can transform a simple image into scientific news. In this case, misinformation about leucism and albinism spread faster than technical clarifications from experts on X or Instagram. In this way, we are reminded that in conservation science, physiological details matter as much as big numbers. A single lynx that changes its color due to stress can reveal accumulated tensions in an entire ecosystem, but not a very rare mutation in its genetics that causes that curious coat. Cover | Angel Hidalgo In Xataka | The most fearsome animals in the world: when nature is much more dangerous than humans

Mining companies believed to have found a treasure in Ciudad Real. Until the Iberian lynx appeared

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In a video that is has viralized By networks you can see how two lynxes are disputing the territory to headers, a habitual practice between these felines. He Reelrecorded in Ciudad Real, shows how felines are returning to their natural habitat. In a turn of events, these animals have managed to stop attempts to extraction a company: giving them a legal header. The exploitation. The “Neodimio Project” is an initiative of the Quantum mining company that seeks gray monacita in the province of Ciudad Real. From this rare land the neodymium is extracted, used in magnets of electric cars and wind turbines. The mining company has shown interest in exploring areas near Valdepeñas, Santa Cruz de Mudela and Torrenueva, areas to overcome the cat, According to the avant -garde. Maybe there are no lynx … But there are people living in those areas that oppose mining. The “yes to the living land” platform has asked the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, to oppose the Rare Earth’s mining project, According to Cadena Ser. From the organization they have explained that it could have a devastating impact on local biodiversity and endanger the ecological corridors that the lynxs have begun to recover. They do not stop in your search. Quantum’s story with Ciudad Real It has been more than a decade. After the failure of the “Matamulas” project, the company tries to return to the load. But time does not play in its favor: the citizen opposition has grown, water resources are increasingly scarce and the rural economic model (based on wine, oil and tourism) fears are affected. The controversy has also intensified for a complaint of the Seprona, which accuses the company of having done work without permission on a plot of Torrenueva, According to Castilla-La Mancha Media. Legal header The Iberian lynx, in its reintroduction process in the region, has played a decisive role in this conflict. Although rare earth mining is seen as an economic opportunity in the context of the energy transition, efforts to preserve fauna and biodiversity have led to stop these projects. As have explained at the vanguardthe lynx is no longer just a conservation symbol, but an argument of weight in legal reports and protests. Its presence in areas such as the Montiel field has become an obstacle to mining companies that seek to exploit these natural resources. It is not the only place. Although Ciudad Real is emerging as the area with the most potential for rare earths in Spain, it is not the only one. In different areas of the country we can find, as Galicia, Gran Canaria, Almería, Estremaduraamong other places. The fan that has been opened is very wide, but these deposits have in common not only the element, but their extraction seems to be complex. For its part, the European Commission has not included the Quantum project in your list of strategic initiativeswhich means that it does not have the support of Brussels to continue its development. Recovering spaces. The lynx has become a defender of its territory, interfering with projects that threaten their home. The struggle for the future of Ciudad Real is between the protection of biodiversity and the progress of mining, a dispute that reflects the dilemma between the need for natural resources and the conservation of ecosystems. Image | Pexels and Diego Delso Xataka | The rare earth war has arrived in Spain. And it is in Ciudad Real where mining and ecology are confronted

After the controversies with the wolf, farmers and hunters begin to have a problem with another protected species: the lynx

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The return of the Iberian lynx (Lynx Pardinus) is seen by many as one of the great successes achieved by conservation policies. The species has passed in the last decades of touching the extinction to its recent recthtelogation by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN): these felines were no longer considered as a species “in danger” but as “vulnerable.” End of idyll. The reintroduction of this animal could also be seen as a success in marketingwhich turned a stretched and disdain animal on the Iberian Fauna icon. Now that image seems to be blurring. At least among farmers and hunters, as Ramón Pérez de Ayala, responsible for the WWF species program, recently explained, in statements collected by eldiario.es. Frustrated reintroductions. The misgivings from the agricultural sector are not exactly new, but in recent months their complaints seem to have won some battles. The most recent, in Catalonia, where last month the Government ended the plans to reintroduce to the cat. It was not the first battle that lost the lynx in recent months. In October, Ministry of Environment, Housing and Planning of the Territory of the Board of Castilla y León approved the reintroduction of the lynx In Palencia But he left the Zamoran Duero’s cannons outside the project, according to The local press explained at the time. In this province, the rejection by the agricultural sector had become evident months ago. What’s happening. The obstacles to this animal could be striking but respond to the complexity of integrating the feline reintroduction plans with the agricultural system in the new habitats designated for the species. The problem does not have so much to do with the lynx but with one of its prey: rabbits. The rabbit is a central part of the lynx diet. So much so that Fear of farmers and hunters is in the possibility that the plans for reintroduction of the lynx will be accompanied by protection measures for rabbits. Different sectors, different perspectives. For hunters the problem is double: first because they must compete for dams With these animals; second to the possibility that the protection measures of lynx and rabbits prevent the hunting of the latter. For farmers the problem is with the possibility that the measures trigger the population of rabbits. These herbivores, They have denounced Sometimes from the agricultural sector, they suppose a threat to crops, which unleashes the misgivings of the sector to the plans to reintroduce to its predator. The furtivism, another threat. The problems for the lynx and their lace in Spanish ecosystems do not stay there. Last year for example He denounced the illegal hunting of these cats in Murcia, and the impact of this on the probabilities of success of reintroduction efforts. In recent decades, problems with the attacks of these carnivores to farm animals have also been occasionally recorded. A study Published in 2013, he pointed out that in the previous six years 40 lynx attacks were counted that were charged with the lives of hundreds of farm animals. The problem He has persisted In the last decade. Not just the lynx. Problems with carnivorous reintroductions such as lynx, wolf or bear in Spain have become a almost constant confrontation focus between environmentalists and the agricultural and hunting sectors. The problem is not exclusive to the country even of the Peninsula. So much so that from Europe the possibility of lowering the protection of the wolf seems aimed at materializing in a matter of weeks. In Xataka | We have lost track of one of the few mammals that put eggs. Now we have rediscovered it Image | Konrads Bilderwerkstatt

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