Camera Traps Reveal Iberian Lynxes Soaking Their Prey, a First-Ever Discovery Among Carnivores

Terrestrial predators like leopards and wolves maul, kill and devour their prey using sharp claws and canine teeth. The idea that some of them would pause to soak their food, the way we might soak lentils or chia seeds, may seem strange.

That’s why, when a camera trap in Spain recorded a wild female Iberian lynx carrying a dead rabbit to a water trough and dunking it, researchers were shocked. Then, they spotted the behavior several more times.

In a study published in March in Ecology, scientists detailed these findings, which they say are the first-ever observations of a carnivore soaking its dead prey in water. The unusual phenomenon has raised questions about how predatory species adapt to changing environments—and it hints at resilience in one of the world’s most endangered felines.

“This is very interesting and genuinely a surprising observation,” says Wai-Ming Wong, the director of small-cat conservation science for Panthera, who was not associated with the study. “Wild cats are typically thought of as highly efficient, instinct-driven hunters, so seeing an individual modify how it handles prey in this way is quite remarkable.”

Scientists have seen other animals dip or wash their food in water. For instance, soaking enhances the sensitivity of raccoons’ paws, which improves their perception of texture and helps them determine whether their food is safe to eat. Nonhuman primates like orangutans and macaques, as well as wild boars, have been observed washing their food to cleanse it of sand. Even birds like Goffin’s cockatoos soak food to soften its texture. But these are omnivorous or frugivorous species, rather than carnivores, and most of their food-soaking activities have been observed in captivity.

Lead author and researcher José Jiménez of the Spanish National Research Council and his team had been monitoring Iberian lynxes with camera traps since 2014 in central Spain’s Montes de Toledo mountain range to study the wild cats’ survival rate, population and reproduction. The species, endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, was once on the brink of extinction: In 2002, fewer than 100 remained, and only 27 were breeding females. But thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers stand at 2,401 as of 2024.

In the camera trap recordings, an unexpected behavior emerged. On August 9, 2020, the scientists witnessed a female lynx named Naia carry a dead rabbit to a water trough. In separate incidents three years later, Naia and another lynx, Luna, from an adjacent territory, were recorded immersing prey in water. Between 2020 and 2025, the scientists documented eight total instances of rabbit-soaking by five different lynxes.

The cats soaked the dead rabbits for around a minute each, though the longest soak was more than four minutes. All the lynxes were female, and instead of feeding on the rabbits, they carried them away after drenching them.

“What makes this especially interesting is that it points to problem-solving behavior; the lynx is not just reacting but potentially experimenting with a new way of handling food,” Wong says.

Faced with this unexpected finding, the researchers looked for a cause. They ruled out temperature as an immediate trigger for the behavior, as the region had experienced no episodes of extreme heat. Moreover, the behavior has not been seen in other regions or in breeding centers where lynxes are closely monitored with video recordings, so they couldn’t make any comparisons there.

But what did stand out was that all examples of prey-soaking were performed by lynxes with partially overlapping territories or by their descendants. This suggests that the behavior was being spread across familial groups or local networks, though the team didn’t observe any direct evidence of learning. “Although lynx are generally solitary, they exhibit a certain degree of social cohesion that is largely kin‑based,” notes Jiménez. This ability to adapt and disseminate behaviors “is rarely documented in wild felids and highlights their cognitive sophistication,” according to a statement from the Institute for Game and Wildlife Research in Spain.

Four of the five prey-soaking lynxes were of reproductive age, and because female lynxes solely raise their cubs, the scientists hypothesize that they were trying to either hydrate their offspring by adding water to the prey or soften the rabbits’ texture to ease their cubs’ transition from milk to solid food. Experiments by the researchers showed that a rabbit carcass, soaked for 30 seconds and left in the shade, retained nearly 4 percent of the rabbit’s body weight in water 40 minutes later.

The researchers write that the behavior might have spread as lynxes watched others soak prey. Wong agrees, saying that “most evidence suggests these kinds of behaviors would be learned rather than instinctive, perhaps often starting with a single individual experimenting, accidentally at first, and then repeating the behavior because it provides some benefit, such as making food easier to handle or safer to eat.”

“Over time, if other individuals observe and copy the behavior, it can spread within a population,” Wong adds.

Scientists generally assume that carnivores manipulate their food only to tear it to pieces or to cache some for later—changing its texture and adding water are not behaviors associated with these predators. But wild cats, including tigers and leopards, can adjust their hunting and prey handling techniques, Wong notes, “especially in response to changing environments.”

In the case of the lynx, its habitat on the Iberian Peninsula has long been in flux. Research has shown that changes to the ecosystem, excessive hunting and disease have slashed populations of rabbits, the cat’s main prey. Moreover, the Mediterranean forests preferred by the lynx have been fragmented because of urban development and agriculture.

Lynxes typically mate between December and February, and after 60 to 70 days of gestation, their litters are born in early spring. However, Jiménez explains that factors like failed fertilization, early litter loss, delayed reproduction in first-time mothers and territorial constraints may lead to some births in late May. Soaking rabbits might be especially important for these later litters, which typically experience warmer and drier conditions due to the time of year, the team writes in the paper.

The scientists hypothesize that this adaptation could provide cubs with adequate hydration as climate change continues to raise the region’s temperatures. Average annual temperatures in Toledo, in central Spain, climbed from 61.3 degrees Fahrenheit to 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit between 1994 and 2023, and long-term projections show a continued increase in heat and dryness.

Jiménez says that the lynxes’ unexpected behavior could be relevant for this vulnerable species’ long-term adaptation in a changing environment. “Understanding how animals adapt their behavior to local conditions can help improve management strategies for reintroduced and recovering populations.”