Pete Oxford - Sierra de Andujár, Andalucia, Spain

So, here I am! The Wild Wonders of Europe directive were ‘delighted’ a year ago in telling me I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Spain and photograph the rarest cat in the world. A cat which is mostly nocturnal, highly cryptic against its environment, has a density of something less than a needle in a haystack, is basically solitary and the only feline to be categorized by the IUCN as Critically Endangered and in danger of extinction - the Iberian Lynx.

Having said that, eco-tourist mammal watchers, mostly Belgians and Spanish do come to the area to see lynx in the wild. They are often successful. I stood with them on a ridge, overlooking a valley for many hours with no luck. They however are digiscoping at 140x compared to my maximum 17x (Nikon 600mm f4.0, 1.4x teleconverter & D3 Body).

Wild Wonders of Europe is a quality outfit, “Just bring us back your 200 very best lynx shots” was my brief.

Luckily I’d had enough advance warning and spent months in direct conversation with the very top directors of lynx projects in Andalucia. A few days before leaving my home in Ecuador I even received, in the post, hard-copies of official ministerial permissions, giving me a few special privileges. So, 10 days or so ago, I set myself up, not with the eco-tourists, but instead, on a private ranch owned by the Junta of Andalucia – prime lynx habitat and the center of a scientific conservation effort organized by LIFE.

One of the major problems for the lynx today seems to be the extreme scarcity of its primary prey – the humble rabbit. They have been wiped out in the area firstly by myxamatosis and latterly by a severe haemorrhagic virus.

The conservation effort includes two types of enclosures, one where wild rabbits are given predator-proof fences around a 5 hectare enclosure plus lots of artificial hiding places. Lynx jump the fence and can hunt rabbits but the smaller predators are excluded. The other enclosure type is much smaller and in certain periods (i.e. when the mothers are raising cubs – now!) a few rabbits are put in the area as a food supplement. One is also put in a cage next to a camera trap so that the lynx has to photograph itself to take the rabbit. This is important for individual ID of the lynx and gives some data as to who comes, how often and the lynx’s physical condition. I decided to take advantage of this system and erect my hide next to a supplementary feeding enclosure.

On the way to set up my hide I stopped another car on the ranch coming from the opposite direction. The driver was a shepherd, I asked him about lynx sightings. “I cum ‘ere every day” he said in a thick rural accent, “Never seen a lynx in mi life”, he added.

I began to worry!

I am now back in civilization after having spent 8 days in a hide. After reprovisioning I am setting off again early tomorrow morning for another 10 day vigil.

My day begins in the dark. Without even breakfast I get up in the freezing cold, car heater on full blast and then creep up into my tiny hide with a footprint of 1m x 1m and tapering upwards. I freeze, even with 4 layers of clothing. Looking out of a tiny slit that the wind rushes through, my eyes water the whole day blurring my visibility and making lynx viewing tough. At 09:07 the first sun’s rays creep above the rocks and warm my face. My torso and legs still freeze in the shadows until about 11:30. By midday my hide is an oven, I have my shirt off and sweat profusely. No sane lynx would be out in this heat I speculate – but then, just maybe! By 18:30 all my clothes are back on and my core temperature rapidly plummets. At 21:00 with no photographic possibilities left I pack up and leave. 14 hours of stiffness causes me to hobble to the car and drive back with full heating.

For 5 days nothing changed.
On the 6th day, after a large dose of despondency was sharing my hide with me, I suddenly noticed – out of my viewing slit – a lynx sitting in the grass – an adult female. It was 19:00 and there was still light! I began shooting in earnest anything I could get. A few minutes later – there was another! The second was the female’s cub – a year old female. Relief overcame me as I began to realize that I was getting something. I wanted Wild Wonders of Europe to be glad they sent me, to validate their choice and to make them proud! I had a wild lynx recorded for posterity – now I wanted more!
Day 7 was a repeat of days 1-5. I knew I had been lucky.

Day 8 was my last full day before I needed to re-supply. I waited. At 18:30 a third individual came. She was a young female, wearing a GPS collar. The light was great. Frustratingly she did not make herself visible too often but I shot what I could.

Here are my favourites so far.  – Wish me luck for my next attempt.

For Wild Wonders of Europe, Pete Oxford. Sierra de Andujár, Andalucia, Spain.

Please note that blogs reflect our photographers' opinions and not necessarily those of the directors of Wild Wonders of Europe.