Aura, emblematic Iberian lynx that leaves 900 descendants, dies at the age of 20

The female Iberian lynx Aura has died at the age of 20 years and six months at the El Acebuche captive breeding center in Doñana.

She passed away two weeks ago, she was the oldest specimen in the center and she has borne 14 puppies in these two decades.

Aura has the peculiar record of having an offspring of 900 specimens from five generations, direct and indirect, in captivity and in the wild, according to the registry book maintained by the conservation program for the species.

“She was a magnificent animal, with a peculiar and grumpy character, she did what she wanted when she wanted.

It was very easy to work with her.

She was removed from the field with about three weeks and less than a kilo of weight.

In 2018, when it stopped reproducing, it was placed in an exhibition area and became the ambassador of the species so that visitors and schoolchildren could see its behavior," explains Antonio Rivas, coordinator of the El Acebuche center and who has seen it grow. , reproduce and die.

Bobcats typically live for around 15 years in the wild and rarely reach two decades of age in captivity.

Aura was captured in Doñana and arrived as a 700-gram, one-month-old baby at the Jerez de la Frontera zoo in April 2002, when the species was going through a critical moment and there were only 100 specimens left on the Iberian Peninsula.

The captive breeding program had just been born, when the Administrations saw that they had to act quickly or the Iberian lynx would disappear forever.

Today that program, with centers spread throughout the country and Portugal, has multiplied the population to 1,365 copies, according to the latest census.

Aura, being a baby in 2002. / ZOO DE JEREZA Antonio Rivas Salvador (GARY ROBERTS COPYRIGHT)

Jessica Reeves has watched Aura for 12 years as a video security guard at El Acebuche: “She was very calm, manageable, and has always separated her puppies very well after the frequent fights.

She approached the caregivers without aggressiveness, she was not shy.

Since she was bottle-fed, at first she was looking for attention and purring with the first keepers and approaching the mesh, then she stopped looking for cuddles, ”she relates.

“They are specimens that leave something behind, especially after a lifetime, many births and many puppies”, she adds with attachment to the animal.

When Aura arrived at the Jerez zoo, she did so accompanied by Saliega, another female cub who came from Sierra Morena, the only point in the country that in 2002 kept specimens along with Doñana.

At the age of five and after two failed attempts, Aura had her first litter consisting of three puppies: Domo, Duna and Drago.

Of his 14 offspring that he has had in two decades, six of them were released in different locations on the Iberian Peninsula and the rest have remained in the breeding program with breeding specimens.

Miguel Ángel Simón, former director of the European program

, comments: "In freedom the oldest was 16 years old, Ulises, but 20 years is already a long time, although in captivity he is very comfortable for the specimen."

Aura, in El Acebuche de Doñana.

/ El Acebuche Iberian lynx breeding center/OAPN-MITECOAntonio Rivas Salvador

The Iberian lynx has gone from being critically endangered in 2002 with less than 100 individuals, to being classified as endangered and one step away from being a vulnerable species, explains Rivas.

The captive population of El Acebuche, currently made up of 30 specimens that are monitored 24 hours a day, are the genetic safeguard to conserve the species.

In the natural environment, their life is threatened by lack of food, especially rabbits, roads and illegal hunting.

In spite of everything, it goes ahead and the species has multiplied and crosses the Peninsula with enormous routes between different mountain ranges.

The caretakers of El Acebuche practiced euthanasia to avoid physical suffering on Aura, who after dying was transferred to the Wild Fauna Analysis and Diagnosis Center in Malaga.

You can follow CLIMA Y MEDIO AMBIENTE on