For the first time in over a century, a Eurasian lynx has been born in Catalonia, paving the way to the reintroduction of a species considered extinct in Spain. The young cat was born in the Fauna MónNatura recovery centre at the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park in the Pyrenees to a pair of adults brought to the park in 2008.
The centre's head of Territory and the Environment, Miquel Rafa, told public broadcaster RNE that the young lynx's role "will be educational", being "a piece missing from the Pyreneen ecosystem". Born two months ago, the cub currently weighs eight kilograms (18lbs), but could weigh up to thirty once fully grown. Rafa said that the lynx is an "example which is in captivity but which gives hope that some day a reintroduction project could be considered".
The Eurasian lynx can be found in forests from Europe through to the Tibetan plateau, including in Siberia and the Himalayas. Once common in throughout the continent, its population dropped sharply in Central and Western Europe thanks to habitat loss, poaching and loss of prey, becoming extinct in wide areas by the mid-18th century.