Lynx pardinus

– Critically Endangered

Taxonomy

Kingdom:	ANIMALIA
Phylum:	CHORDATA
Class:	MAMMALIA
Order:	CARNIVORA
Family:	FELIDAE
Scientific Name:	Lynx pardinus
Species Authority:	(Temminck, 1827)
Common Name/s:	IBERIAN LYNX (Eng) PARDEL LYNX (Eng) SPANISH LYNX (Eng) LYNX D'ESPAGNE (Fre) LYNX PARDELLE (Fre) LINCE IBÉRICO (Spa)

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

CR C2a(i) ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2002

Assessor/s:

Cat Specialist Group

Evaluator/s:

Nowell, K., Breitenmoser, U., Breitenmoser, C. & Jackson, P. (Cat Red List Authority)

Justification:

With the population declined to less than half of the 1,200 in the early 1990s, the Iberian Lynx is close to becoming the first wild cat species to go extinct for at least 2,000 years. Based on estimates of density and geographic range (Nowell and Jackson 1996), the total effective population size of the Iberian lynx is estimated at 250 mature breeding individuals, with a declining trend due to habitat and prey base loss and persecution, and no subpopulation containing more than 50 mature breeding individuals.

History:

1965	-	"Very rare and believed to be decreasing in numbers" as Felis lynx pardina (Scott 1965)
1986	-	Endangered as Felis pardina (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)
1988	-	Endangered as Felis pardina (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1990	-	Endangered as Felis pardina (IUCN 1990)
1994	-	Endangered (Groombridge 1994)
1996	-	Endangered (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range

Range Description:	The Iberian Lynx is restricted to Spain and Portugal.
Countries:	Native: Portugal; Spain

Population

Population:	The population is confined to scattered groups in the southwestern quadrant of the Iberian peninsula as a result of the fragmentation of their natural habitat by agricultural and industrial development. Only two or three groups are considered to have populations which could be viable in the long term.
Population Trend:

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

The Iberian lynx occurs in Mediterranean woodland and maquis thicket (Nowell and Jackson 1996). It favors a mosaic of dense scrub for shelter and open pasture for hunting rabbits (ICONA 1992). Palomares et al. (1991) examined habitat preferences of lynx in the Coto Doñana area of south-western Spain, including the national park and environs. Lynx were generally absent from cropland and exotic tree plantations (eucalyptus and pine), where rabbits were also scarce. In the park, radiotelemetry showed that more than 90% of daytime resting spots used by lynx were located in thick heather scrub (Beltrán et al. 1987).

System:

Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Threats

Threats:

The introduction of Myxomatosis to control the abundant rabbit population in Europe resulted in the disappearance of the lynx's principal prey. With the main food source decimated, the lynx population crashed, and when rabbit recovery seemed possible, viral haemmorrhagic pneumonia struck them. In an attempt to maintain the lynx population, conservationists are breeding and releasing rabbits, while the wild population is developing a natural immunity to myxomatosis (P. Jackson pers. comm.).

Additional threats to the species come from injuries caused by being caught in snares set for rabbits, accidental deaths caused by speeding vehicles on the expanding road network, and illegal shooting.

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

Lynx pardinus is currently included on CITES Appendix I. It is also fully protected in Spain and Portugal (ICONA 1992). A captive breeding programme has so far produced no young, but some wild lynx, from tiny subpopulations, which have no future, are to be caught with the hope of success.

Citation:	Cat Specialist Group 2002. Lynx pardinus. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 12 May 2008.
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