During our third Iberian Lynx of Spain photo tour, we once again visited Sierra Morena de Andújar. This place has the highest population of Iberian lynx in the world, with about 400 animals. Overall in Spain, and in Portugal the total number of Iberian lynx is now over 1000 adults, which is absolutely fantastic, as the number keeps increasing for this endangered species of wild cat. Read the rest of our Iberian lynx of Spain photo tour 2024 trip report to get all the details!
Highlights of the 2024 Iberian Lynx Photo Tour
Iberian Lynx: In total, we photographed six different Iberian lynx. Sightings averaged eight minutes, at an average distance of 60 meters. For our closest encounter, we had the Iberian lynx at just five meters!
Detailed Trip Summary 2024
Day 1: After picking up the guests from the airport or hotels in Madrid, we started our trip towards Andujar, about three hours away. After heading into the mountains and our accommodations, we had lunch, and then left for our first lynx safari. We classify this species of cat as a medium difficulty, hoping to have one good photo opportunity with the lynx for the duration of the tour. We gave the guests an overview of the areas we would be mostly looking for the lynx. We had a great sighting of ibex, which seem to have gotten more tolerant in the area.
Day 2-6: We spent all of our time looking for lynx in the public areas of the Sierra Morena de Andujar. There were three spots we focused on, with one in particular area taking about 80% of our time. This spot has less lynx but when they come, they tend to be closer. I personally did not shoot any of our six sightings, except one, wanting to ensure our guests were seeing, and getting photographs of the lynx. We had lynx in two of the three spots, including on male about five meters away. Below is a photo of our last sighting. Our highlight for sure was watching a male successfully hunt, kill, and eat a rabbit at about fifty meters (though in heavy fog).
My favorite part about the Sierra Morena in January is that lynx watchers and lynx photographers are nice to each other. There is no fighting for positioning, just helping each other figure out where the lynx is. For our first lynx sighting, which was a very very far away mating couple, two nice Spaniards allowed my guests to look at them through their high-powered scope, which made their day.
Day 7: With early flight departures we left very early dropping people off at the airport and train station for their onward travel.
Iberian Lynx Photo Tour 2024 Species List
Mammals
| Iberian Hare | Lepus granatensis |
| Iberian Lynx | Lynx pardinus |
| Iberian Red Deer | Cervus elaphus hispanicus |
| Iberian Ibex | Capra pyrenaica |
| Mouflon | Ovis orientalis |
Birds
| Red-legged Partridge | Alectoris rufa |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | Streptopelia decaocto |
| Cinereous Vulture | Aegypius monachus |
| Eurasian Griffon Vulture | Gyps fulvus |
| Spanish Imperial Eagle | Aquila adalberti |
| Little Owl | Athene noctua |
| Azure-winged Magpie | Cyanopica cyanus |
| Eurasian Magpie | Pica pica |
| Eurasian Blue Tit | Cyanistes caeruleus |
| Common Chaffinch | Fringilla coelebs |
