Siberian lynx as a pet: legal in Spain, but impossible in practice

Siberian lynx as a pet: legal, but red tape makes it impossible

A three-month-old Siberian lynx cub, bred in London and with certificates of non-protected species, vaccination and microchip, has just run out of options in Spain. Its potential adopter checked the regulations, and the result was a list of requirements that turns the operation into a private zoo: a regional licence, a municipal permit, a favourable veterinary report, liability insurance and, in Castilla-La Mancha, a zoo licence. Far too much hassle for an animal that, according to the figures circulating, weighs between 20 and 40 kilos as an adult and needs a hunting territory that no private plot can reproduce.

What the law requires to keep a Siberian lynx in Spain

The short answer is that it depends on the autonomous community (Spain's regional governments). The long answer is that none of them make it easy. The regime for exotic wild animals requires regional authorisation, a permit from the town council where the property is located, mandatory liability insurance and, in the case of Castilla-La Mancha, a favourable report from the veterinary association. The zoo licence, according to the account of the person who enquired, is relatively easy to obtain, but it requires meeting minimum enclosure sizes and keeping the facility perfectly secure.

The problem is not just the paperwork. It is that a lynx is not a big cat. Several analyses agreed that a feline weighing 20 to 30 kilos, however lovingly raised, retains the instinct of a wild predator. Some claim that such an animal could kill a mastiff with its claws and eat it raw. The comparison with potentially dangerous dogs does not hold up: a 50-kilo dog can be gentle; a 30-kilo lynx cannot.

Climate and space: two problems nobody solves

The Siberian lynx is adapted to the tundra. Bringing it to a Spanish plot, no matter how many hectares, subjects it to thermal and territorial stress that no enclosure can compensate for. It was pointed out that these animals need up to 10 square kilometres of territory to roam, a figure no private estate reaches. And if it is left loose, the risk is not only to the lynx: it is to the neighbourhood's domestic cats, to small dogs and, in the worst scenario, to a child.

The option of raising it like a cat — coming in and out of the house, cat food, domestic life — clashes with its biology. A domestic cat is one after thousands of years of genetic selection. A lynx is not. It may purr, but the sound is closer to a lion than to a kitty. And the vet bill, with clinics that refuse exotic animals or charge zoo rates, adds another zero to the total.

The alternative that does work: a cat that looks like a lynx

If it is the looks that appeal, there is a domestic breed that resembles it and is legal: the Maine Coon. It weighs over 9 kilos, is muscular, fast and has a better temperament than many ordinary cats. One cited case: a Maine Coon adopted because its owner could no longer cope with it ended up being the most sociable cat in the house, with access to the countryside and a couple of weeks of snow a year. It once brought a fox home for dinner. That said, neutered, as all cats with outdoor access should be, to prevent litters and fights.

The practical conclusion is that the Siberian lynx as a pet is legal on paper and almost impossible in practice. Bureaucracy, climate, instinct and veterinary costs all point in the same direction. And meanwhile, the London cub is still waiting for a destination that, under these conditions, is probably not Spain.

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Is it worth complicating your life for an animal that will never be domestic, or is a big cat that genuinely purrs enough?