Iberian lynxes and wolves are to benefit from 3.5 million euros in EU funding for a five-year project spanning Portugal and Spain, to support the existing and newly arrived populations south of the river Douro.

The Iberian wolf population of Portugal has been slowly increasing thanks to the work of Grupo Lobo, who breed traditional shepherd dogs to give to shepherds in the northern and central areas of Portugal. I was lucky enough to visit their recovery centre in Mafra many years ago, and my memory of the sound of the group wolf singing as the sun set stays in my heart and still makes me smile. The wolves at Mafra are in large enclosures and most of them cannot be released for various reasons, so while they can never be truly wild again they have a good life and they certainly brought a touch of the wild into my heart forever.

The new project spans Extremadura in Spain and Guarda, Aveiro and most significantly for the Iberian Lynx, Malcata, an area that was the subject to a nationwide campaign for the Iberian lynx in 1979. The campaign was one of the first for the lynx, and the first campaign for a feline in Europe.

The LPN/ICN campaign failed to save the Iberian lynx, which was finally declared extinct in Portugal in 2002, but the area of Malcata became a natural reserve. The return of lynx to this area would be all the more significant because of this.

The newly funded project will support existing populations of wolves and lynx which are still relatively scarce south of the Douro River, and aims to increase the availability of wild prey and expand the work of Grupo Lobo. It is being coordinated by Rewilding Portugal. Fittingly for the lynx the new project also encompasses the Sierra de Gata in Spain.