Myrtilis, the Iberian lynx released into the wilds of the Alentejo in January this year, has been found dead.
Staff at the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests confirmed the loss today, stating that Myrtilis "was found dead by the field team in an area near the release site in the normal course of monitoring thoe animals introduced to the wild in the Mértola region."
Mírtilis's body will be sent to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Lisbon where an autopsy will determine the cause of death.
Myrtilis is the second Iberian lynx to be found dead of the 16 lynx released since December 2014 in the Guadiana Natural Park in the Mértola area of Beja.
The species is being saved by being bred in captivity and released to the wild areas that lynx traditionally used to inhabit in Spain and Portugal - it is all part of the ‘LIFE + Iberlince’ programme.
The first fatality was a female lynx called Kayakweru which had been released in February 2015 as part of the first batch to be set free. The animal later was found dead; it had been poisoned.
With the death of Myrtilis, the total number of releases living in the wild in the Beja district is down from 16 to 15.
