Iberian lynx rebounds from brink of extinction, hailed as the “greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved”

Things are looking up for the Iberian lynx. Just over two decades ago, the pointy-eared wildcat was on the brink of extinction, but as of Thursday the International Union for Conservation of Nature says it is no longer an endangered species.

Successful conservation efforts mean the animal, native to Spain and Portugal, is now a vulnerable species only, according to the latest version of the IUCN Red List.

In 2001, there were only 62 mature Iberian lynxes—medium-sized, tabby brown cats with characteristic pointed ears and a pair of beard-like tufts of facial hair—in the Iberian Peninsula. The disappearance of the species was closely linked to that of its main prey, the European rabbit, as well as habitat degradation and human activity.

According to WWF, the Iberian lynx will also eat ducks, young deer and partridges if rabbit density is low. An adult bobcat needs about one rabbit a day, but a mother needs to catch about three to feed her young.

Alarms were raised and breeding, reintroduction and protection projects were initiated, as well as efforts to restore habitats such as dense forests, Mediterranean shrublands and grasslands. More than two decades later, in 2022, nature reserves in southern Spain and Portugal contained 648 adult specimens. The latest census, last year, shows there are more than 2,000 adults and young people, the IUCN said.

“It’s a really huge success, an exponential increase in population size,” Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN Red List unit, told the Associated Press.

One of the keys to its recovery has been the attention given to the rabbit population, which has been affected by changes in agricultural production. Their recovery has led to a steady increase in the bobcat population, Hilton-Taylor said.

“The greatest recovery of a feline species ever achieved through conservation (…) is the result of a committed collaboration between public bodies, scientific institutions, NGOs, private companies and members of the community, including local landowners, farmers, gamekeepers and hunters ”, Francisco Javier Salcedo Ortiz, who coordinates the EU-funded program LIFE Lynx-Connect Projectsaid in a statement.

IUCN also worked with local communities to raise awareness of the importance of the Iberian lynx in the ecosystem, which has helped reduce animal deaths due to poaching and road kill. In 2014, 22 of the animals were killed by vehicles, according to WWF.

Additionally, farmers receive compensation if cats kill any of their animals, Hilton-Taylor said.

Since 2010, more than 400 Iberian lynxes have been reintroduced into parts of Portugal and Spain, and now occupy at least 3,320 square kilometers, an increase from 449 square kilometers in 2005.

“We have to consider everything before releasing a lynx, and every four years or so we review the protocols,” said Ramón Pérez de Ayala, species project manager for the World Wildlife Fund in Spain. WWF is one of the NGOs involved in the project.

While the latest Red List update offers hope for other species in the same situation, the bobcat is not out of the woods yet, says Hilton-Taylor.

The biggest uncertainty is what will happen to rabbits, an animal vulnerable to virus outbreaks, as well as other diseases that can be transmitted by domestic animals.

“We also care about climate change issues, how habitat will respond to climate change, especially with the increasing impact of fires, as we have seen in the Mediterranean over the last two years,” Hilton-Taylor said.

A 2013 study warned that the Iberian lynx could become extinct in the next 50 years due to the effects of climate change.

Next week, the IUCN will release a broader Red List update that serves as a biodiversity barometer, Reuters reported.