Lynx baby boom spreads: first litter born in central Spain's Cabañeros National Park

Those in charge of Spain's national Iberian lynx conservation programme hoped at the time that they would find a mate to reproduce and increase the lynx population there. Uvita and U2 met, hit it off and have ended up creating the first litter of Iberian lynx in the history of this natural area since it was declared a National Park in 1995.

A landmark achievement "of great ecological significance that demonstrates the effectiveness of the reintroduction and adaptive management strategies applied in this protected area, as well as the progress in the recovery of one of the world's most endangered species", according to Spain's Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

The mother, Uvita, was born in 2023 and captured on 24 September 2024 on the La Garganta estate in the province of Ciudad Real, in the Sierra Morena mountains, as part of the aforementioned lynx conservation programme. Before her final transfer to Cabañeros National Park, she spent some time in quarantine at the El Chaparrillo wildlife recovery centre in Ciudad Real. In October of that same year, she was released into a semi-free enclosure in Cabañeros to acclimatise to her surroundings. Then, in November, she was fully released back into the wild.

As for her mate, U2, his backstory is more dramatic. His mother was run over and killed, so he and his three siblings, still kittens, were transferred to the captive breeding centre for Iberian lynx known as La Olivilla, in Jaen province. There, the litter was raised using a mixed-rearing system that combines controlled human intervention with contact with adult lynx to ensure the development of species-specific behaviours such as hunting and territoriality. Later, in February 2024, U2 was also transferred to Cabañeros National Park.

Since then, Uvita and U2 have been tracked using GPS collars and camera traps that confirmed the start of their courtship in December 2024. Their union has finally borne fruit with the first litter of Iberian lynx born in this national park. This has been made possible by one crucial factor: both have managed to survive in the wild. They have now created a self-sustaining clan, thanks in large part to the abundant availability of their main prey, the European rabbit, which represents more than 80 per cent of their diet and whose overpopulation was already creating problems in Castilla-La Mancha. Furthermore, these lynxes have been spared diseases such as viral haemorrhagic disease and pressure from other predators.