Written by Margaret Merry.
The Sierra de Lújar, towering in the distance above Motril, is a familiar sight to people living on the Costa Tropical. It was once a wilderness with a great diversity of flora and fauna but, due to human interference, many species have been lost and those that remain are under threat from building development, quarrying, plastic greenhouses, indiscriminate hunting, fire and so on. The wolves which inhabited the sierra disappeared more than a hundred years ago; later, their fate was shared by the Spanish lynx. It is loss of habitat due to human activity which has affected not only the Sierra de Lújar but also similar paraisos all over Spain and is the reason why the Spanish ( or Pardel ) lynx is the most threatened member of the cat family in the world.
There has existed some controversy as to whether or not the Spanish lynx belongs to the same species as the Northern lynx but because the Pardel is smaller and more heavily spotted than the Northern, the argument is that they are genetically distinct. The Latin name for the Spanish lynx is Lynx pardinus ; this refers to the coloration of the fur which ranges from brownish-grey (pardo) to grey. Like other members of the cat family, it is a graceful, agile creature. Its ears, characteristically, are tufted with long, black points and both sexes have distinctive sideburns, although the males’ are longer than those of the females. These are thought to be a means of camouflage, altering the rounded silhouette of the head. It has large, cushioned paws, similar to those of lions and tigers, enabling it to stalk its prey silently, and a short, expressive, tasselled tail. It is a powerful animal, much larger than the domestic cat and the gato montés ( mountain cat ) with which it is sometimes confused. Habitually solitary and nomadic, lynxes generally only come together during the breeding season.
Like many other species threatened with extinction, the Spanish lynx is a specialist feeder and although it will eat partridges, ducks and other birds, plus small mammals and even reptiles, its diet consists mainly of rabbits. This means that the lynx can only survive in areas where there is suitable vegetation, in the form of abundant scrub, to support a healthy rabbit population. However, these animals in turn have also suffered from loss of habitat not only through human activity ( for example land clearance in order to grow commercial trees such as pine and eucalyptus) but also from myxomatosis and haemorrhagic virus, both devastating diseases. As a result, declining lynx populations have become isolated and fragmented, resulting in a depleted gene bank. Their distribution is now confined to five remaining zones of which only two - Doñana and Andújar-Cardeña - support populations which are genetically viable.
Desperate measures are now required in order to try to save the species from extinction and the two most important which have been proposed are, firstly, the breeding of lynxes in captivity and, secondly, the restoration and maintainance of its natural habitat which would include increasing the rabbit population. In this way, it is hoped that fragmented groups or isolated individuals may be brought together to breed naturally.
There have been a number of reports of unconfirmed lynx sightings in several locations on the Costa Tropical and naturalists have found evidence that there may be one in Guájar Alto. However, it is not difficult to mistake some other animal for a lynx, especially at night. The genet, for example, has distinctive, dark markings on its fur which could easily lead it to be mistaken for a lynx; it is, nevertheless, much smaller than the latter and besides, has a very long tail and a long, blunt snout. Lynxes tend to keep well away from human activity and so the chances of seeing one in this part of the province are remote.
In order to save the Spanish lynx from extinction, it is necessary to convince many more people that it is worth the effort. Without large scale co-operation, any attempt will be futile and this beautiful animal will be lost for ever.
Margaret Merry was a professional artist and author of 4 books in
England before moving permanently to this region of Spain 6 years ago
where she is still a prolific artist and has also written and
illustrated her 5th book. For further information you can contact
Margaret direct at www.margaretmerry.com .
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