Spanish and Portuguese conservation officials have scored a “huge success” with the Iberian Lynx over the last 20 years, Craig Hilton-Taylor at the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has said. When there were thought to be only 62 adults in 2001, the Iberian Lynx was considered on the edge of extinction. Today there are over 2,000 adults and juveniles “an exponential increase in population size”, Hilton-Taylor, the head of the IUCN Red list unit, reported Associated Press.
Although the IUCN is hoping that within 100 years the Iberian Lynx will return to its traditional numbers, the road is not expected to be smooth. Charities, scientific institutions, landowners, hunters and gamekeepers have worked together to educate people, and rehabilitate its environment, there are still mitigating factors that may affect continued success in the future.
Bigger fires burning forests and scrublands have been a problem in the Mediterranean, like many other areas of the world. The lynx is still also subject to the dangers of crossing roads their territory.
Also, poaching, and the mindset that preached elimination of Iberian Lynx, as pests, was once prevalent in Spain. Now, instead, farmers who can show their animals have been subject to predation by lynx, can claim damages.
A big reason for the improvement in lynx numbers has been rabbit repopulation. Rabbits are the main component of the lynx diet. Scientists have worked towards increasing rabbits, but they are still subject to outbreaks of disease commonly found in domestic animals. In the last 10 years, rabbit populations have declined by 35 percent in some areas of Spain. While The Guardian has also reported that Ramon Pérez de Ayala of WWF Spain, (World Wildlife Fund Spain) stated Portugal has witnessed a major decline of 90 percent says.
“Things are so bad in the natural areas where rabbits live that the predators are going to be doing better than the prey, which is pretty paradoxical,” Pérez de Ayala said.
With the current estimated 400 female lynx, the WWF Spain Project Manager concluded conservation efforts are halfway there. Ecologists are hoping to see 750 female lynx in the future.
The rise in population, recently saw the IUCN remove the Iberian Lynx from the Red List of Endangered Species. They are sufficiently recovered from endangered status to be considered vulnerable to extinction. Although great strides have been made, we need to keep things in perspective, Franciso Javier Salcedo Ortiz of the LIFE Lynx-Connect project, says. “Let’s not forget that there’s still much to be done … and even when it’s all done, we’ll need to carry on working so that this doesn’t all happen again.”
The IUCN also quoted Professor Sarah Durant at the Zoological Society of London (Institute of Zoology) in a press release: “The significant recovery of the Iberian lynx demonstrates that even the most threatened species can be brought back from the brink of extinction through committed, science-based conservation action and provides hope for those working to protect wildlife across the globe.”
Sources
The Iberian lynx is back from the brink of extinction, thanks to conservation efforts. (2024, June 19). Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/iberian-lynx-vulnerable-species-spain-portugal-recovery-b7e36b94510301bc5616511d84cdbe1c
Iberian lynx no longer endangered after numbers improve in Spain and Portugal. (2024, June 20). The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/20/iberian-lynx-vulnerable-not-endangered-after-numbers-improve-in-spain-and-portugal-aoe
Internation Union of Conservation of Nature. (2024, June 20). Iberian lynx rebounding thanks to conservation action – IUCN Red List [Press release]. https://iucn.org/press-release/202406/iberian-lynx-rebounding-thanks-conservation-action-iucn-red-list Journal of Medicine, Dr. Raffaele Marfella et al,