Small ads website, OLX, is 'helping police with their inquiries' after a customer posted a classified ad to try and sell an Iberian Lynx.
The surprising offer of a wild animal, supposedly captured in Alcoutim, was posted on Monday, December 11th and prompted the authorities to try and identify the person who posted the ad in order to see if the sale was genuine, or a hoax.
Faro GNR said that, "the process comes under the Public Prosecutor's Office, and therefore the GNR can not provide any information about it."
The captured lynx, offered for sale at €1,500, is said to have been captured in a trap in the Alcoutim area and that the price is 'negotiable.'
The photograph used was lifted from an Internet posting by TVI news, therefore, it is not known whether the advertisement is actually for a live lynx since it was not specially photographed for the online ad.
None of these suppositions have stopped an investigation taking place by the GNR’s environmental branch, SEPNA, whose officers have asked the website’s owners for details of who posted the ad so they can 'have a word.'
The lynx breeding centres in Silves and in the Doñana national park in Huelva, are helping the GNR as the sale of lynx, an endangered species, is of great concern.
There already has been at least one attempt to sell an Iberian lynx in Spain: a stuffed one described as in 'perfect condition.' This too is illegal and Spain’s, nature protection service, SEPRONA, soon pounced.
