Description
Join our quest to see to see one of the most threatened felines in the entire world, the Iberian Lynx!
We’re delighted to offer this exciting winter trip to Spain to seek out the iconic & beautiful Iberian lynx.
In this amazing wildlife tour, we will visit one of the last strongholds of the Iberian Lynx, one of the rarest cats in the world. After many years of being on the brink of the extinction due to habitat fragmentation and lack of its main prey (Rabbit), the Iberian Lynx is recovering. This apex predator will be our main target, along with many other mammals and birds, particularly raptors, which roam in the Mediterranean forest of the Natural Park of Sierra de Andújar.
In order to find this elusive cat, we will spend most of the morning and afternoon at the watch points, listening to the characteristic mew of the Lynx and scanning the surrounding forest. In addition, we will visit other corners in the park to look for Spanish Ibex and Otter.
Day 1, Wednesday 15th January -– Andújar Natural Park (2 h 40 min).
If time allows, we will spend the afternoon looking for Lynx at sunset, in the amazing Natural Park of Sierra de Andújar. Alternatively, we can visit Torcal, woth a special beauty of its own and the appearance of a petrified city.
The well-preserved forest at Andújar holds a healthy population of mammals and raptors which take advantage of the numerous Rabbit that are restocked for the Lynx. In winter, during the mating season, Lynxes become more active and are seen patrolling their territories. In addition, they also become more vocal, and this makes it easier to find them at this time of year.
Day 2, Thursday 16th January – Andújar Natural Park.
We’ll travel into a beautiful landscape; pastures on granite of the Sierra Morena, for the next days. A full day exploring in different ecosystems. In the morning we’ll try to see Otter in the riverine area. We will look out for some special birds like Kingfisher, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Azure-Winged Magpie, Iberian Green Woodpecker, while we check for Lynx. For the afternoon and evening, we’ll head to another territory, with the highest density of Iberian Lynx.
Day 3, Friday 17th January – Cazorla, Segura & Las Villas Natural Park
Today, in order to visit this Natural Park, the second biggest forestry area in Europe, and the territory where the Lammergeier has been reintroduced, (from 2015 they are again nesting in nature), we’ll need to travel for approximately 1.5 hours to the east, to check for Golden Eagle, Griffon Vulture, Northern Goshawk, Peregrine Falcon, and more.
It is also not too difficult to get sightings from the car or whilst waiting in some areas for mammals like Red deer, Fallow Deer, Mouflon, Iberian Ibex, Red Fox, Wild board, Red Squirrel.
We will also visit a special area in the mountain, to check for Lammergeier.
Day 4, Saturday 18th January – Natural Park Sierra De Andújar
Today, we’ll visit a different area, to look for Spanish Imperial Eagle, Golden Eagle, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Black Vulture, Griffon Vulture, and mammals like Red deer, Fallow Deer, Fighting Bulls, and Iberian Lynx.
Day 5, Sunday 19th January – Andújar to Málaga airport
If we have enough time, we’ll try to check for Iberian Lynx. We’ll return to airport of origin. This will conclude our program which has allowed us to observe the most impressive fauna and landscapes in South Europe.
READ FULL HOLIDAY DETAILS
