Missing Lynx

After a narrow escape from death, the future looked bright for Baba, a young Iberian lynx in the Coto Doñana National Park in southwest Spain. Last April, he was rescued from an illegal poacher's trap and nursed back to health, despite badly injured feet and legs. Then in July, he was released into the wild, outfitted with a radio collar to monitor his movements. But just weeks later, the radio signals stopped. A local park warden believes that Baba was killed, probably by a hunter keen for such a rare trophy.

For centuries, the Iberian lynx has been...