Category

Land Animal

Location

Spain

Gear

Nikon D5 with Nikon 300mm PF F4

Description

A male Iberian lynx emerges from the trees with his prey just as the sun begins to set. I spent 36 hours, across 4 days, sat in a hide with a privacy glass front in Southern Spain in the hope of seeing a wild Iberian Lynx, one of the most endangered cats in the world. This large male had sat in a shaded area within my view and he had waited for the sun to start to go down and the temperatures to cool [it was around 38*C]. He then got up, stretched and started to wander towards the trees on the right. He paused before venturing in and then a minute later emerged with his prey. The light backlit the Lynx which was wonderful, however, it meant that my reflection could be seen on the glass of the hide which I was shooting through. In order to combat this, I edged my camera, fixed on a tripod, as close to the glass as possible and sat as far back as I could. I deliberately under exposed to preserve as much of the yellow colours within the sky and to achieve a lovely highlight around the lynx. I also had to ensure that my shutter speed was high enough to isolate the movement of the lynx. These 4 days saw temperatures on average of 38*C and hide temperature of 40*C plus. Exposure 1/800, F4, 300mm, ISO 1400. My intention with this image is to convey the emotion felt when seeing the endangered Iberian lynx thrive. Conservation efforts have brought the population, which was on the verge of extinction in the early 2000s(~94 individuals), up to approximately 1600 individuals currently across Iberia. These efforts have been through land-management (improving the habitat), the restocking of rabbits and active monitoring. The Iberian Lynx's chances of survival are still precarious due to climate change, rabbit diseases such as myxomatosis and RHD1&2. It will not be out of danger until numbers at least double, but I have every hope that the population will continue to grow.

Photographer

Fiona Clark

Social Media

Instagram: fionawildlifephotography

Twitter: FCCPhotography

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