"We're drawing on experience with breeding our bobcats and advice from experts around the world," Sanchez says. "We're cautious but hopeful that if we can get all the lynxes we need, we'll be able to add to the population in the wild."
Cromo is sharing an enclosure with Attila, a juvenile bobcat born in the zoo. Sanchez is hoping that Attila and Cromo will learn to socialize together so that when Cromo reaches age two—and is ready to mate with a female lynx, he'll know some cat etiquette. A video monitor records events in the enclosure around the clock.
Dwindling Stock
With so few lynx in the wild, one mission of the breeding center is to boost the cat's genetic stock. Recent sightings of an "all-black" lynx show the impact of inbreeding.
"With the diversity of the genetic code dwindling, lynx are increasingly less resistant to disease," says Jose Aguilar Inigo, a Jerez Zoo veterinarian who feeds Cromo and works with the animal.
The Jerez Zoo and SOS Lynx are coordinating an effort to create a network of prey-stocked lynx reserves. A lynx-conservation education campaign is also under way as well. Awareness of the lynx's plight by communities is key to the cat's survival. With so few lynx around, one road kill or snare catch can imperil the future of a group of the cats in an area.
Conservationists also are lobbying Spanish and Portuguese governments to stop building roads in lynx territories, to crack down on poachers, and to help replenish wild rabbit populations and to help establish reserves.
Otherwise the only remaining cats will be in captivity, like Cromo.
"Europe has long been known for chastising developing countries for not protecting their endangered big cats (like the tiger and jaguar)," Goncalves says. "Wouldn't it be ironic if a big cat went extinct right on our doorstep? Well, that's exactly what's going to happen if more isn't done to save the Iberian lynx."
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