'Betis', the longest-lived lynx, finds a refuge to die

Betis

was born in the valley of the Jándula River (Jaén) in 2005, when the Iberian lynx population was at a low point - there were only 125 specimens left - and the captive breeding program was taking its first steps towards an uncertain future.

Now, 18 years later,

is facing the last stage of his life, the age of senile dispersal, in which felines have lost their ability to reproduce and are displaced from their territories by other individuals.

Typically, the largest specimens disappear without a trace, especially in the case of animals without radiomarking, as was the case with

The lack of news last year made the technicians in charge of monitoring her fear that "the old lady" had died due to her advanced age ―females usually live between 14 and 16 years and males between 12 and 14 and in captivity they can reach 20 years as

―”.

But last September, she reappeared in the middle of an olive grove in the towns of Carboneras and Aldea de Mesa, in very poor condition.

They managed to recover it, and now, back in their country domains, what surprises them most is “that calm look that contains the wisdom that experience and age give;

It is a very beautiful animal despite the years and the ailments that make it slow down”, describes Maribel García-Tardío, a technician from the Junta de Andalucía's Lynx Recovery plan.

has found her place, and "at least she is going to die where she has chosen, in a very beautiful area of ​​olive groves with patches of Mediterranean forest on the banks of the Guarrizas river," she adds.

There are other lynxes, but as rabbits abound (a fundamental part of the carnivore's diet) "it seems they have accepted it".

'Betis', already recovered, resting. Iberian Lynx Recovery Plan of the Junta de Andalucía

García-Tardío recalls that they were notified of the presence of a malnourished animal: "It only weighed seven kilos."

It was surprising to find a lynx in the field without a radio collar and so old.

The normal thing is that they leave their territory when they are 13 or 14 years old.

was captured

"to see what was wrong with it, because we have never had such an old animal in the field."

She was transferred to the La Olivilla breeding center and there she underwent a check-up in which they verified that she was healthy and that, probably, she had lost her physical condition due to her age and the effort made in senile dispersal. .

More information

Lynxes multiply by 10 in 20 years and exceed 1,000 specimens, but remain at risk of extinction

After a month, he already weighed 11 kilos, and it was time to decide his future.

"It didn't make much sense for her to continue in captivity, and the determination was made for her to return to the field so that she would end up in the same way she had always lived," clarifies the technique.

At the end of last October, Betis regained its freedom and began to carry out exploratory movements from the municipalities of Guarromán to Santa Elena and the Fernandina reservoir.

In December she settled, about 35 kilometers from her home and equipped with a GPS, a memory of her stay at the captive breeding center and controller of all her steps.

Until then, monitoring had been done with camera traps.

Critical situation

Betis

was born at a very delicate moment for the species: there were only a few specimens left in its birth area, the Jándula valley, others in the Yegua river valley and in the town of Doñana, the latter completely isolated.

Still, he was lucky;

In his home the outbreak of the hemorrhagic disease did not decimate all the rabbits and the cats were helped with supplementary feeding.

“We knew that she was the daughter of

, a territorial female from the area, and she never went very far, when she became independent [at two or three years] she settled very close to her mother, they were neighbors and she continued there until she began her life. senile dispersion”, comments the technician.

she reproduced for the first time in 2008 and had 16 pups until 2017, the date of her last birth.

She managed to hold her territory for five more years, but in the spring of 2022 she began senile dispersal.

"She has been a female who has lived calm and happy," says the technician.

'Betis', the longest-lived lynx, photographed at the end of October 2022. Iberian Lynx Recovery Plan of the Junta de Andalucía

At the moment,

continues in its last refuge.

She notices that she enjoys the spring temperatures of the last week more than the cold.

"We have seen it sunbathing these days with mild nights and days of more than 20 degrees."

Her low temperatures affect her more, “she shows it in her way of walking”.

The technicians know that she is eating rabbits, from the remains of fur that they locate.

And on these dates, the rabbits that are easier to hunt abound.

“

is doing well”, corroborates García-Tardío, who is now finalizing the data for his area to carry out the 2022 census of the species, which is still in danger of extinction, although in 2020 it exceeded the thousand barrier in Spain and Portugal reaching 1,111 individuals between adults and puppies.

The growth was 30% compared to the previous year: 414 pups were born from 239 breeding females, indicates the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

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