Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa Photographic Walkthrough of the "Tapada do Lince-ibérico" complex for Iberian Lynx & Iberian Rabbit

[TeaLovingDave]

As I noticed prior to my recent trip to Iberia that despite several recent visits to the collection by Zoochatters, and discussion of the exhibit here and there, the exhibit for Iberian Lynx at Lisbon was completely unrepresented within the Zoochat gallery, I resolved to make a comprehensive record of the exhibit complex in question.

The photographs which resulted are now in the gallery, but it seems apt to collect them here with further comment and explanation.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

The "Tapada do Lince-ibérico" complex comprises a zig-zagging slope dotted throughout with informational signage about the Iberian Lynx, the threats facing it, the place it holds in the Iberian ecosystem, and the conservation efforts underway to protect the species, along with a mid-size exhibit for their main prey item (the Iberian subspecies of wild European Rabbit) and a rather-larger exhibit for the Iberian Lynx itself.

At the entrance to the complex, the following signage can be seen:

Just beyond here, as the path slopes quite steeply uphill, an exhibit for Iberian Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus) can be seen on the left, along with accompanying signage discussing both this species and the role it plays as the majority prey-item for the Iberian Lynx.

Just before the rising path takes a dog-leg to the left, a decorative banner depicting the species housed beyond is located to the right:

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Beyond the dog-leg, the main body of the exhibit for Iberian Lynx is located on the right-hand side of the visitor as they make their way uphill; much of the exhibit is protected from view by a high wall, with three large viewing windows located at regular intervals along this wall. In between these windows, the wall is adorned by a large quantity of informational signage discussing various matters pertaining to the Iberian Lynx.

As can be seen in this photograph of the view through the first and lowest of the viewing windows, the exhibit itself is both rather large and very thickly-vegetated, with a great number of points in the outdoor enclosure where the inhabitants can remain invisible. Moreover, in the background of the photograph one can just about see the location of the interior offshow housing for the two Iberian Lynx living within the enclosure, which as far as we could tell from the glimpse we could obtain through binoculars - along with CCTV cameras which I shall discuss anon - extended somewhat further back than was initially apparent.

The preceding photographs of informational signage all demonstrate, I think, the high quality and consistency apparent within this signage.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Just beyond the third viewing window into the exhibit - visible above - the path ceased to ascend and reached a mid-sized shelter, containing further educational signage discussing the Iberian Lynx along with several items focusing specifically on the captive breeding programme for the species, a fourth and final viewing window into the exhibit, and a CCTV camera feed allowing visitors to see footage of two points deeper into the outdoor exhibit, along with views of the indoor housing for the pair of Iberian Lynx held within the enclosure.

Immediately next to the entrance to this shelter, another piece of informational signage focusing on the threats facing the species was located on the wall:

I would like to draw attention here to several of the informational items located within the shelter itself:

This particular display, as can be seen, discusses the origin of the two individuals held within the exhibit and the reasons why they are on-display for educational purposes rather than being utilised in the captive breeding programme; it is worth noting that the genetic problems arising from inbreeding depression cited in the entry for the young male are commonplace throughout the captive population to a greater or lesser extent, due to how bottlenecked and inbred the population became, and as such this is one of the bigger problems facing the captive programme as a whole.

This display discusses the locations of the various major breeding centres for the species - it is worth highlighting the fact that only one of these is located in Portugal, and was also the newest breeding centre at the time that this exhibit complex opened in 2014.

This display provides a full range of biometric and morphological statistics relating to the species, its diet and physical characteristics, along with its current conservation status.

This display provides a comprehensive timeline of the captive breeding programme and associated re-introduction and conservation efforts.

As noted already, this viewing area also contained a final viewing window into the exhibit, along with CCTV cameras allowing some level of visitor viewing into other portions of the enclosure complex:

The upper two images show the interior housing for each individual; both were visible, in point of fact, but in the photograph only the individual sat in plain view is visible, with the other individual - sat next to the outdoor access hatch - unable to be made out clearly. The lower two images provide camera views into portions of the outdoor enclosure which are not readily visible from the previously-discussed windows. Although it took some patience, careful cross-referencing between the CCTV feed and the viewing windows, and substantial use of binoculars, we were able to spot both individuals in the outdoor enclosure for brief moments after each left their indoor housing for a time - but even so, the thick vegetation meant that photography was all-but-impossible even when they remained still!

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Something tells me that @Arizona Docent - who I seem to recall was rather unimpressed with the exhibit for this species at Jerez - may wish to see this thread and thus I tag him into this post.

 

[Arizona Docent]

This is one of the single best threads in the history of ZooChat!

Unfortunately it looks like the thick foliage makes photography difficult, but if I ever go to Portugal (which I would certainly like to) I will certainly spend a day here and would not be averse to sitting at the enclosure all day for a shot.

In spite of the difficulty of the viewing setup at Jerez (Spain), I did get some good shots so I am not in an urgent rush to head over there. I may also be the only ZooChatter who has seen both Iberian lynx and Iberian rabbit in the wild!

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Unfortunately it looks like the thick foliage makes photography difficult, but if I ever go to Portugal (which I would certainly like to) I will certainly spend a day here and would not be averse to sitting at the enclosure all day for a shot.

The bigger issue is that the lynx seem to prefer to stay indoors, and when leaving their dens largely stick to the upper reaches of the exhibit - we got pretty good views thanks to the use of binoculars and careful focusing through the foliage, but as you note getting photographs was all-but-impossible.

I may also be the only ZooChatter who has seen both Iberian lynx and Iberian rabbit in the wild!

For now if, and it is a big "if", I do return to the Iberian Peninsula it will almost certainly be for wildlife-watching purposes only, in which case seeing the lynx would be an option.

 

[Arizona Docent]

When I was at ZooBotanicoJerez (taking a day train from Sevilla), I did not realize how close it is to Donana National Park. It was only recently that I was on GoogleMaps and noticed how close it is. However when we (my brother and I) saw our wild lynx, we went further north to Andujar National Park. In addition to lynx and rabbit, we saw red deer, fallow deer, mouflon, European otter.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

. In addition to lynx and rabbit, we saw red deer, fallow deer, mouflon, European otter.

Didn't see wild mouflon, lynx or otter on our trip - although I have seen European Otter many, many times here in the UK - but we *did* see Sierra de Gredos Ibex (Capra pyrenaica victoriae) along with fallow deer, roe deer, Iberian red deer, Iberian wild boar and a LOT of avian oddities..... but naturally you don't care about the lattermost

 

[littleRedPanda]

Thanks for this. I rarely take photos of exhibits, other than the actual animals and this is one I'd liked to have. The few photos I managed of the lynx are only over about 20 minutes and I popped in and out various times through the day.

 

[ThylacineAlive]

It's hard to judge from photos but the enclosure looks to be about on-par with Madrid's while the exhibit complex in general is much better. Can the lynx climb the trees in these photos should they choose?

~Thylo

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Can the lynx climb the trees in these photos should they choose?

Can't see why they wouldn't be able to it's not really visible in any of the enclosure shots, but there are wooden platforms and logs dotted throughout, so they are certainly encouraged to climb to that extent.

 

[ThylacineAlive]

Can't see why they wouldn't be able to it's not really visible in any of the enclosure shots, but there are wooden platforms and logs dotted throughout, so they are certainly encouraged to climb to that extent.

Excellent, that's certainly one benefit over Madrid's. I couldn't really tell if the trees were hotwired off or even in the enclosure in some photos.

~Thylo

 

[TeaLovingDave]

The other big benefit is size - using some of the area-calculation tools available online which utilise Google Maps, the Lisbon enclosure (including the indoor housing) appears to be roughly 900 m² whilst the one at Madrid is about 630 m².