Four lynxes are born in the longest delivery in the history of the Doñana breeding center

As they have indicated to Europa Press from the Ministry, it was the female Parra who, after a long labor that began at half past eight on Tuesday morning, gave birth to the first of her four puppies at 1:53 p.m. on the same day. Three hours and twenty-two minutes after her birth, this female restarted her contractions again and in just one hour she gave birth to three new puppies.

In the same way, they have stressed that with Parra it is the first time that in El Acebuche there has been such a prolonged birth (more than three hours), and that the puppies “are in apparent good health”, which is considers “one more milestone for the history of the program”.

One deceased due to septicemia

Previously, on March 12, the Iberian lynx breeding season began with the birth of two females, Juromenha and Madroña, who had two cubs respectively, although one of them died on the 18th of septicemia due to a strain of the bacterium Escherichia coliaccording to the preliminary analyzes of the autopsy performed.

Likewise, from the Ministry they have stressed that the management carried out in the breeding centers is “very little invasive”, given that among the objectives of the Ex-situ Conservation Program of the Iberian lynx is its subsequent release into the natural environment to recover or reinforce wild populations.

For this reason, much of the monitoring of animals is done remotely using video surveillance systems. In this sense, they have pointed out that this fact “makes it unknown, among other things, the number of puppies that will make up the litters”, as well as they have pointed out that it is through the behavior of the mother and the monitoring of contractions, as center staff can tell when labor is over.

Parra’s long birth could be viewed live through the social networks of the Ex-situ Program and reached more than 4,000 people, who showed their participation and interest in the conservation program for this species.

Parra is a 4-year-old female, born at the La Olivilla breeding center in 2018. This is the second year she has been part of the program’s breeding stock, but the first time she has carried a pregnancy to term and takes care of a litter

Breeding Center El Acebuche

In the Iberian lynx breeding center of El Acebuche, located in the Doñana Natural Area, the Ex-situ Conservation Program for the Iberian Lynx began at the end of 2003.

In 2005, the first birth in captivity of this species of feline in danger of extinction took place there; To date, 126 of the Iberian lynx cubs born in its facilities have survived, 70 of which have been released into the wild in different parts of the Iberian Peninsula, to promote the recovery of wild populations of this species.

The management of the breeding center of the Iberian lynx El Acebuche is carried out by the Autonomous Organism for National Parks, belonging to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

The National Parks Autonomous Body manages and pays for the captive breeding program for the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) developed at the Zarza de Granadilla Breeding Center (Cáceres), of which it is the owner, and the El Acebuche Breeding Center (Huelva), part of whose buildings and facilities belong to the Junta de Andalucía. Both centers are included in the ex-situ conservation program for the Iberian lynx, together with the breeding centers of La Olivilla (Jaén) and Silves (Portugal).