The Iberian lynx and Doñana National Park

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Between 24 to 28 October I went to Doñana National Park in southern Spain to meet Antonio Rivas of the Iberian lynx Ex-situ Conservation Programme El Acebuche and Guillermo Lopez from the Lynx Life project. Both projects are fundamental in saving the Iberian lynx.

Just ten years ago, in 2002, it was estimated that there were only 150 individuals left of the Iberian lynx, which made it the most endangered cat species in the world. These 150 individuals were spread out in two separate populations, one in Sierra Morena and the other in Doñana National Park.

Working intesively with bringing the population up by removing threats such as snares, dangers in traffic and bringing the rabbit population up, the teams also work with genetic reinforcement and reintroduction and by today 17 Iberian lynxes have been reintroduced into the wild from the breeding programme.

One day we climbed up a fire watch tower and got a spectacular view of Doñana Natural Park, which acts as a buffer zone to the national park.

I was not lucky enough to see an Iberian lynx in the wild but the knowledge that they are there is enough.

Lynx lecture and snow leopard pictures

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On Saturday I held a talk about lynx biology at Nordens Ark for the Swedish Society for Carnivore Conservation. Some 50 people were in attendence in what was a great meeting. I thank Ingemar Pettersson for allowing me to use the picture.

The day after, on Sunday, I spent a few hours taking pictures of the snow leopards, again to complement our pictures of wild snow leopards. Irbis and Saheli were both up and about. I also saw the manul, or Pallas’s cat, for the first time. It is a hairy little cat which looks even more grumpy than a European wildcat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Installing a carnivore-proof fence in Ockelbo

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During the weekend I have been in Ockelbo helping an animal owner put up a carnivore-proof fence. Five electrical wires with the bottom one at 20 centimeters should keep wolf and probably also lynx and bear out.

It is the Swedish Society for Carnivore Conservation which has taken the initiative to help animal owners, mostly sheep farmers, to install carnivore-proof fences. More than 100 fences have been installed all over the country since the project began. The initiative is a win-win situation for both animal owners and large carnivores.

In the picture to the right, Jon from Natur- och faunavårdslinjen mounts insulators on the fence.

In the picture below, the wires are coming up. The fence will need to be cleared of grass one or twice per season to keep a stable current through the wires.

Field day at Orsa Björnpark

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I had a field day last Monday at Orsa Björnpark taking pictures of snow leopards to complement our pictures of wild snow leopards for the book on the species that we are working on. I was there for four hours and got some nice shots.

Meanwhile my colleague Jan Fleischmann is in Stockholm meeting people and doing interviews for the book. Work is progressing.

Sonfjället trek

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On Saturday and Sunday I trekked on Sonfjället National Park. We did not spot any bears but that was not necessary since some of the scenes that we saw up there were most spectacular.

 

As we woke up in the tent the following morning everything was covered in white snow. The stunning brightness was made even more bright by the clouds that were of matching color.

 

 

The Scottish Wildcat

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I have just reinstalled my old harddrive and found some pictures. This is a Scottish wildcat from Port Lympne Wildlife Park that I took in 2009. I talked to some of the people involved in their conservation and visited this enclosure with one of the keepers.

Bad news struck recently, though, as the Scottish Wildcat Association have just reported that there may be as few as 35 individuals left in the wild and that they could be extinct within months due to interbreeding with domestic and feral cats.

Spain

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Last night I got back from a nine day trip to Spain. I had the chance to see most of Madrid, meet people, see the nature of the southern country, do snorkeling in Palomares and much more.

In Madrid we visited a vegan shop called Planeta Vegano which is similar to Goodstore in Sweden.

It has been a terrific trip and I hope to go back there soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back home and end of the field season

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The crazy season is finally over and I am home. After two and a half months and 54 field days I have covered 1 122 kilometers with car, traveled through 16 out of 21 counties and lived in 10 different hostels, slept in tents, friends’ houses, canoed on rivers and lakes and seen tens of thousands of mosquitoes. All in all, it is good to be back.

Arctic circle and the past 30 days

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So the big field season commenced in mid May. So far I have been to Vingåker, Växjö, Överkalix and Malå with various visits to Stockholm, Nyköping, Örebro, Karlstad, Umeå, Örnsköldsvik and Åmot. The next stop is Östersund on Monday.

 

In Överkalix I worked north of the Arctic circle. It was around10 June so the midnight sun was approaching but unfortunately it was raining during my stay there. I managed to get a glimpse of the setting sun at 23:40 up on a mountain top north-west of Malå, which was the closest I got to midnight sun. Needless to say it does not get dark during night up there, a stark contrast to winters where in some places villagers do not see the sun at all. When I worked with a helicopter census of moose in Junosuando in december one and a half years ago we did not see the sun from the village. I only glimpsed it from up in the chopper 200 meters up in the air.

 

Out working in the nature of Överkalix one day I notedthe following: “I am standing on the edge of a steep mountain, huge blocks of rock surrounding me. The trees, pines, spruces and birches have peculiar shapes and thick branches. This is a place where logging machines and chainsaws have never reached. Some of these beauties are hundreds of years old. During the lifetime of many women and men these trees have witnessed the vastness of the northern taiga landscape; a landscape of change.”

 

During a visit to Stockholm me and a friend visited what appears to be the only rooftop gardening project in the city. I have contacted just about all people who should know about these projects and the only one that I came to hear of was the one created by 100Hus in Hornstull.

For quite some time I have been investigating the possibility of creating a rooftop gardening project in Karlstad and the visit to the project at Hornstull gave me some ideas for practical solutions.

 

 

 

 

In the past few days I have been in Nyköping, Karlstad and Åmot for various things. In Nyköping my friends Patricia and Christian got married in a very vegan-, eco- and HBT-friendly way. It warms my heart knowing that some people are ready to go to great lenghts in order to not only save the planet but at the same time care for its people. Apart from the awesome company, the delicious vegan food, kayaking tour in the lake, sauna bath and a couple of ice cold baths in the lake made these days more than memorable.

 

 

The week came to an end with a terrific midsummer party in Åmot with loads of vegetarian food in all shapes and forms.

Carnivore-proof enclosures

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On May 8 and 9 I participated in a course at Grimsö Wildlife Research Station learning how to build carnivore-proof enclosures for sheep and other domestic animals.

The course was very productive and we put up two different types of fences that are very effective to keep wolves out and also work pretty well for lynx and bear.

In the picture, Helena Jones is tying the knots to the electric fence, instructed by Inga Ängsteg from Viltskadecenter.