We celebrate the birthday of Javo, our male Iberian lynx

This March 15, the whole Selwo Aventura team celebrates a very special birthday, the birthday of the male Javo, the first Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) welcomed in our facilities. Javo was born in the Breeding Center of “La Olivilla” in Jaén on March 15, 2012 and arrived in Estepona on June 5, 2015, coinciding with the Environment Day and accompanied by the female Judía. Since then, the Conservation team of Selwo Aventura is in charge of its care in our facilities.

Precisely, the Iberian lynx lowered its degree of threat in 2015, from Critically Endangered to Threatened, according to the parameters of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), by exceeding the figure of 50 sexually mature individuals living in the wild. After the species reached the lowest recorded wild population in 2001, following a prolonged decline of more than 50 years, the Iberian lynx was included in the Critically Endangered category in 2002, and at the same time an arduous ex-situ breeding program was started, which has allowed the species to evolve from barely a hundred specimens at the beginning of the century to around two thousand at present.

Javo's birthday is an excellent opportunity to make our visitors even more aware of the importance of the Iberian lynx for the balance of the environment, so on days like today our Education team reinforces the informative message of modern zoos and our work for the conservation of endangered species. In fact, Javo and his role within the Iberian Lynx Program perfectly exemplify one of the forms of collaboration between public administration and private enterprise for the good of an endangered species, since Javo arrived at Selwo Aventura after a genetic anomaly was detected that made him an unsuitable specimen for reproduction within the ex-situ breeding program and subsequent release of the offspring. Thus, his transfer to Estepona helped to decongest the breeding center of “La Olivilla”, focused on the efforts for the recovery of the species, being taken care of by our team because he was not suitable for his life in the wild.