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Linking Land for the last Iberian lynx

The highly charismatic Iberian lynx was once common throughout Spain and Portugal. More recently, the species has declined dramatically with the most recent reports indicating that there are fewer than 150 wild individuals left, mainly restricted to two isolated populations in southern Spain.

The Iberian Lynx is the most endangered cat species in the world, and is the only cat classified as Critically Endangered. The decline in lynx populations is due to a number of factors including scarcity of prey, loss and fragmentation of its cork oak and maquis habitats, road casualties and illegal killing.

The Iberian Lynx is the focus of our latest appeal. It is vital that we not allow this most vulnerable of cats to die out. Please help us protect the lynx.

Fauna & Flora International is implementing a strategy for the conservation of the Iberian Lynx in both Portugal and Spain, with funding from the Arcadia Fund, Nando Peretti Foundation and WildInvest. The strategy aims to secure and manage a belt of land across southern Spain and Portugal that will provide a corridor of suitable habitat large enough to support a viable population of this threatened cat. In addition to protecting a habitat of recognized global importance, the corridor will allow for the reconnection of currently isolated lynx populations and, in the future, for the secure reintroduction into the wild of individuals reared in sanctuaries.

A key to the recovery of the Iberian Lynx is the restoration of the rabbit population. Rabbits, which are native to the Iberian Peninsula, form more than 90% of the Iberian Lynx diet. A male Iberian Lynx catches one rabbit a day, whilst a breeding female will need up to 5 rabbits a day to raise her family. The introduction of myxomatosis and the subsequent impact of haemorrhagic fever almost resulted in the local extinction of rabbits in Iberia, and populations now stand at only 5% of their 1950s levels. Land management strategies include improving the habitat for rabbits, which will benefit breeding lynx.

Fauna & Flora International has formed partnerships with leading conservation NGOs in both Portugal and Spain. A small but highly effective lynx project team has been established within the Portuguese NGO, Liga Para A Protecção Da Natureza (LPN) focusing on securing land in the Algarve and southern Alentejo, whilst FFI has recently developed links in Spain with CBD-Habitat to support their on-going work in the Sierra Morena mountains.

Please support our hard work on the Iberian Lynx.

Iberian Lynx quick facts • IUCN status: Critically endangered. • CITES status: Annex I - trade of the species is effectively banned. • Life span of up to 13 years. • Solitary, with territories ranging from 10-20km2 depending on food availability. • Mating season is in January - females mate only once a year but males may mate with more than one female. • A litter contains 2-3 cubs, which stay in the mother's territory until they are 20 months old. • Historically, lynx roamed all over Spain and Portugal. • Only two breeding populations left, in the Coto Doñana National Park and in the Sierra de Andújar, Jaén, both in southwest Spain. • Threats -land conversion to golf courses and intensive agriculture, roads fragmenting habitat, road kill, hunting, accidental deaths in traps for other animals. • Would be the first cat to go extinct since the saber-toothed cat, 10,000 years ago. For more information on the Iberian lynx, take a look at these articles: http://news.bbc.co.uk http://www.telegraph.co.uk