A lynx crosses the silver screen.
More than twenty organizations
joined together in 2002
to save the endangered Iberian lynx.
Endangered thanks to humans,
especially the region’s farmers.
They fear their livestock will be
threatened if the lynx population
is allowed to grow again.
The lynx is a cat,
and a cat tends to play
and chase other animals.
And yes,
sometimes that can become
an attack on lambs.
Lynxes favor rabbits as prey.
But rabbit populations are diminishing
due to hunting, and a virus.
So lynx populations diminish too.
Every new litter
is seen as a success.
Meanwhile, the Lynx Rescue Project
has allowed the cats’ population
in Portugal, and neighboring Spain,
to increase tenfold.
The lynx breeding center
has contributed, as well.
Specialists are breeding and observing
the animals’ behavior
in a closely guarded reserve.
It’s all being done
to reduce the cats’ contact with humans
- to almost nil.
It’s important that they
behave as they would in the wild,
as much as possible.
So they can also live naturally,
as they always used to.
When they’re released into the wild,
they shouldn’t be reliant on humans
looking after them.
And it seems to be working here.
When the young lynxes are freed,
they’re not interested in humans.
Instead, they go and stake out
their old home territory,
bit by bit.