Laurence Dollimore
AT least one Iberian Lynx has been announced as dead as a result of the devastating Huelva fires.
The adult female died on Sunday during the evacuation process of the El Acebuche captive breeding center, while another 13 adults remain loose.
The center said it in a statement that it only had 15 minutes to evacuate the facility, which meant that they could only remove 14 of the 25 lynxes.
The stress suffered during the capture and transport to a safer place is said to have caused of the death of ‘Homer’, one of the center’s most prolific breeding females who had already given birth to two cubs this year.
In total, nine adult reproductive specimens (five males and four females) and five pups have been rescued and transferred to other nearby centers.
Another 13 adults had their doors and cages left open in case the fire approaches.
Once the center of El Acebuche can be accessed again, workers will have see whether or not they remained or went into the wild, in which case they will be captured again.
Created in 2005, El Acebuche center is one of the oldest in the captive breeding programme and has brought 128 cats into the world.
