On June 20th, 2024 the Iberian lynx was officially downlisted from “Endangered” to “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, underlining the species’ monumental recovery from near extinction only 20 years ago.
This remarkable story of resilience is an encouraging sign for conservation of wild cats. It is also a testament to the effectiveness of using ecosystem restoration to protect species from extinction.
How can a species go from critically endangered to vulnerable in just 20 years? The answer is a combination of captive breeding, habitat restoration, local outreach, and scientific research. Not to mention the impressive tenacity of the lynx themselves!
Lynx on the brink
The Iberian lynx is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula- the area of Europe which is covered by Spain, Portugal, and Andorra. Whilst there are few records of historical populations, in the early 20th century wild lynx numbered in their estimated thousands. So, what went wrong?
- Iberian lynx have long been subjected to hunting for fur, game, and perceived livestock protection. The introduction of the infamous “Vermin Law” in 1953 accelerated killing of lynx by giving hunters impunity.
- In the 1980s, an outbreak of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) wiped out mass numbers of European rabbits. This was a major problem for the lynx, which depends on European rabbits for up to 90% of its diet. Without that vital food source, lynx often found themselves in fatal conflicts with livestock farmers, which harmed their reputation among locals. The only alternative was to simply go hungry, and lynx will not attempt to breed when malnourished.
- The Iberian lynx has also faced threats to its habitat. Over the last 80 years, development of rural and wild land for housing, agriculture, and transport infrastructure led to shrinking suitable habitat for lynx and brought them into ever closer proximity with humans. By the turn of the century traffic collisions were a major cause of lynx mortality. They remain a serious threat today.
- On top of poaching, persecution, and prey shortages, a more existential threat looms large. The climate crisis could alter the lynx’s habitat irrevocably, with severe droughts and rising temperatures already scorching the Iberian peninsula. Wildfires are also on the increase in the Mediterranean. Therefore species which can’t adapt to more frequent burning or migrate to wetter climes will face an uncertain future.
By the early 2000s, the unfortunate cat was on the knife edge of extinction and the future looked bleak. Captive breeding programs in Spain were struggling to find males to mate with captive females and wild populations were suffering low genetic diversity. Furthermore, an alarming number of lynx in the Doñana region fell victim to a feline leukemia virus in 2007, demonstrating the species’ potential vulnerability to new diseases.
Saving the lynx- a mission impossible?
The Iberian lynx was a whisker from dying out in the wild. This was a deafening wake-up call to Spanish and Portuguese environmental authorities. The governments of the two countries, their environmental ministries, and authorities of Autonomous Communities came together to make a plan of action for saving the lynx. It involved four captive breeding centres and simultaneous habitat restoration. The Lynx Ex-Situ program is committed to breeding well-adapted individuals with the best possible chance of survival, using research data to inform animal husbandry.
Emergency conservation work demands significant financial resources. Luckily the Iberian lynx’s dance with death also attracted international attention. In 2002, the European Commission launched a partly funded lynx conservation project, through their LIFE programme. The LIFE IberLince project was focused on halting the decline of Iberian lynx populations and stabilising their numbers. This project initiated a wide range of conservation actions, from awareness campaigns to habitat restoration, to European rabbit reintroductions, and road fencing for roadkill prevention.
By 2018, lynx numbers had increased, from 94 in the year 2000, to almost 700- a huge achievement. Whilst some have linked this success to the species’ ability to breed well in captivity, the project’s multi-faceted and research based approach can’t be overlooked. The action plan addressed each main threat, from rabbit scarcity to road collisions. Improving genetic diversity through translocations and the ex-situ breeding program was cited as a key success factor by the IUCN. Many of the solutions implemented will benefit not only the Iberian lynx, but other members of its ecosystem too.
Local community involvement is another pillar of successful conservation. A lot of land which could be good habitat for lynx is privately owned. The CBD-Habitat Foundation works together with landowners to create sustainably managed spaces where endangered species can live alongside private farms. This is an important tool for gaining community support for conservation and demonstrating to neighbours that coexistence is possible, and even beneficial.
What next?
The IberLince project, ex situ breeding program, and various other campaigns succeeded in nudging Iberia’s iconic wild cat away from extinction. However, conservationists couldn’t relax just yet. Years of conservation work can be undone in no time without a long-term plan for sustaining the population.
Enter, LIFE LynxConnect, a new conservation project supported by the European Commission. Launched in 2020, LynxConnect has the same goals as its predecessor, with the added focus of connecting the various isolated populations of lynx. Connectivity aids genetic diversity by allowing previously separated populations to interbreed with each other.
So far, the project is set to be another big win. The most recent estimates of wild lynx numbers exceed 2,000. These numbers prompted the IUCN to update the species’ conservation status to Vulnerable.
Not out of the woods
Although the improvement of a species’ conservation status is always worthy of celebration, conservationists can’t afford to get complacent. Threats to the Iberian lynx and its ecosystem are still numerous and include the ever-increasing problem of climate breakdown. The future of Iberian conservation is likely to be rooted in adapting to hotter conditions, more droughts, and greater fire risk.
Secondly, some stakeholders have expressed concerns that the IUCN’s decision to list the lynx as Vulnerable might affect the willingness of the European Commission to continue funding its conservation. Nevertheless, optimism is a cornerstone of all wildlife conservation, and Spain and Portugal’s great lynx rescue has certainly lifted many hopes for future success stories.
Be curious!
- Donate to underfunded conservation projects! Saving endangered species costs a lot of money. While the Iberian lynx was lucky to receive significant funding help from the European Union, in other parts of the world there is less budget for wildlife conservation. Instead, organisations sometimes depend heavily on crowdfunding and international donors.
- Seen a lynx? Lucky you! Share your encounter with WildBook, a citizen science tool that uses your sightings to monitor lynx populations.
- Check out our other articles about saving endangered species, like these by Sara De Giorgio and Paddy Trower.
Featured image by Anne and Saturnino Miranda via Pixabay.
