Sierra Arana, in the municipality of Iznalloz (Granada), has become from Monday a new area of reintroduction of the Iberian lynx in Andalusia after the release of five specimens of this species. They are ‘Saturno’ and ‘Sotillo’, two males born in breeding centres, and two wild females from Sierra Morena, ‘Solera’ and ‘Ilexa’, who also arrived with her cub ‘Terre’. The release was attended by the general secretary of the Regional Ministry of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy, Mar Plaza, the general director of Forestry Policy and Biodiversity of the Regional Ministry, Giuseppe Aloisio, the regional delegate of the Regional Ministry in Granada, Manuel Francisco García, and municipal representatives of Iznalloz, Piñar and Morelábor, as well as the director of the Life LynxConnect project in Andalusia, Javier Salcedo.

The release is another step in the success of the Iberian lynx recovery programme in Andalusia, which not only involves the release of five specimens but also the creation of a new reintroduction area for this species and the interconnection of the different lynx population centres in Andalusia, Extremadura and Portugal.

In addition, one of the specimens, ‘Saturno’, is the great-grandson of ‘Aura’, who died just over a month ago and was the founder of the captive breeding programme for this species in Andalusia. Aura’ has made an extraordinary contribution to the recovery of the Iberian lynx in Andalusia and throughout the Iberian Peninsula.

With the release of these five specimens to live in freedom in Sierra Arana, the programme opens doors to new territories for the lynx population. A species that barely two decades ago, in 2002, was on the verge of extinction (with only 94 lynxes counted) and that today is just one step away from going from being a critically endangered species to a vulnerable species thanks to the more than 520 lynxes counted. “This is one more step in the persistence of an animal that only a few years ago was on the verge of extinction”, say the technicians of the Department of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy with regard to the lynx.

This success, said Giuseppe Aloisio, Director General of Forestry Policy and Biodiversity, “has a lot to do with the commitment of Andalusia, which has been able to bring together public administrations, private companies, farm owners, hunting societies, environmental and conservationist associations and residents of the municipalities near the reforested areas. All of them around an ecological biodiversity conservation project that is known and recognised worldwide”.

Thanks to everyone’s commitment, the Iberian lynx species now has more than 522 individuals registered in different population centres in Andalusia. These areas are also interconnected, “which implies a double success” for this lynx programme.

The lynx recovery programme also “endorses the Junta de Andalucía’s clear commitment to biodiversity and the conservation of ecological balances, which is in no way incompatible with economic development”.

With the release of ‘Saturno’, ‘Sotillo’, ‘Solera’, ‘Ilexa’ and the cub ‘Terre’, in Sierra Arana, the residents of the municipalities and the town councils of Iznalloz, Piñar and Morelábor will see how the lynx, in addition to enriching their territory and making it more sustainable, becomes an instrument for raising awareness of environmental values and a springboard for the economic development of the whole area.