A Bit About The Iberian Lynx
Physical Description
The Iberian lynx is heavily spotted and weighs about half as much as the Eurasian species, with long legs and a very short tail with a black tip. Its coat is tawny with dark spots and it bears a characteristic "beard" around its face and prominent black ear tufts.
Diet
The Iberian lynx mostly depends on wild rabbits to feed, but it will also eat ducks, young deer and partridges if rabbit densities are low. While an adult lynx needs about one rabbit a day, a mother raising her young needs to catch about 3.
WWF EFFORTS
The conservation effort taken to prevent the Iberian Lynx’s extinction has paid out, and from a shrinking population of less than 100 individuals in 2002, now 404 cats live in the Mediterranean forests of the Iberian Peninsula. A new ambitious conservation project, LIFE Iberlince, is recovering some of the lynx’s lost territories in Spain and Portugal.
DISTRIBUTION.
Iberian lynx are found only in two small areas of southwest Spain on the Iberian Peninsula, west of the Pyrenees mountains. Despite extensive surveys, they have not been detected in Portugal since the 1990’s.
What Are The Main Threats?
Decreasing Food Base
Car Hits
Habitat Loss & Degradation
Rabbits form the main prey of the Iberian lynx. Epidemics, such as myxamatosis and the haemorrhagic disease, have affected rabbit populations over the years, which has in turn affected the Iberian lynx population.
The construction of high speed roads and highways, splitting up the Lynx habitat, is another of the main threats for this wild cat. 2014 was a black year: 22 animals died under the wheels of a car. A very high number, given the small population of the species.
Infrastructures like roads, dams, railways and other human activities contribute to the loss and fragmentation of the Iberian lynx distribution area, creating barriers between the different populations. The expanding road network has also led to more fatalities on the roads. It is thought that between 1960 and 1990, the Iberian lynx suffered an 80% loss in its range.