Niassa, a two-year-old lynx, has met a grim death on the Via do Infante in the Olhão area.
According to the Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation, all the indications are that the female lynx was run over as it crossed the road, early last Saturday morning.
Niassa was one of the lynx from the breeding centre near Silves and had been released last year in the Vale de Guadiana area.
The ICNF had categorised the lynx as being on the missing list as its tracking device had stopped transmitting signals at the end of 2017, not had it been identified passing one of the hidden cameras dotted along likely lynx routes.
Despite the lynx being in good health before its untimely death, it was likely to have been seeking new territory with an abundance of rabbits, the only thing these animals seem happy eating.
Despite the lynx being in good health before its untimely death, it was likely to have been seeking new territory with an abundance of rabbits, the only thing these animals seem happy eating.
Niassa is likely to be marked down as the fourth lynx to be run over in Portugal since reintroduction programme started in 2015.