The Iberian lynx: a species on the brink of extinction is now a success story
A short time ago, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) gave some great news: the Iberian lynx is no longer under threat of extinction. There are more than 2,000 specimens living on the Iberian Peninsula, up from just 90 in 2002.
Hunting, the destruction of its habitat and the diseases of wild rabbits have made it the most endangered cat on the planet. For this reason, the recovery of this emblematic species has been undertaken by several entities, including the Regional Government of Andalusia, which is responsible for the remaining specimens. With the support of European co-financing, four LIFE projects have been carried out since 2002:
- LIFE02 NAT/E/008609 Lynx of Andalusia: Actions to improve habitat, improve prey populations, actions to eliminate unnatural mortality, monitoring, etc.
- LIFE06 NAT/E/000209 Reintroduction of the Andalusian Lynx: Recovery of the lynx in some of its historical areas of circulation in Andalusia as well as genetic enhancement.
*The work done by these two LIFE projects has allowed the species to recover from a pre-extinction scenario, from 94 specimen in 2002 to 326 in 2011.
- LIFE10 NAT/ES/000570 Iberlince: With the start of reintroductions in five new populations, all outside Andalusia, the two subpopulations reintroduced in Andalusia have been consolidated and the recovery of the historical distribution in Portugal and Spain has begun.
- LIFE19 NAT/ES/001055 LIFE LynxConnect: In order to ensure a self-sustaining and viable functional metapopulation, the goal is to increase both the overall population size and the connectivity between the core Iberian lynx populations.
The four LIFE projects involve a total of 35 partners, including public administrations, scientific institutions, NGOs from different sectors (conservation, hunting, etc. ….) and private companies. Worth mentioning is the committed collaboration of the people who share their daily lives with the Iberian Lynx and have been key to the program’s success from the beginning: local populations and communities, landowners, ranchers, gamekeepers and hunters.
This is a great story of success, hope and work, and we at IDOM are delighted to be part of it. Our colleague Aixa Sopeña, as a monitor of the External Monitoring Team of the LIFE Program for Spain and Portugal, took over the monitoring of LIFE Lince Andalucía when it was already in its final phase, at the end of 2005. Subsequently, Ainhoa Darquistade, also as a monitor, took over from Aixa in 2011 and has been monitoring LIFE Iberlince since its inception and is currently continuing with the monitoring of LIFE LynxConnect.
We should not forget that the Iberian lynx, although no longer threatened with extinction, will remain a threatened species until its population reaches at least 3,500 individuals.
Our work is not over yet!
Iberian lynx rebounding thanks to conservation action – IUCN Red List
