Iberian lynx nearly extinct – EU must act, say campaigners

By Karen Carstens

Date: 29/04/04

AMID all the concerns coming from green groups about maintaining biodiversity in the ten acceding countries on the eve of EU enlargement, the Iberian lynx, the metre-long cat that lives only in Spain and Portugal, is on the verge of extinction.

According to an alarming report released to the European Parliament on Monday (26 April), the world's most endangered feline species may disappear within the next few years. "This would be the first extinction of a big cat species since prehistoric times and would be a terrible embarrassment to Europe and a watershed for nature conservation around the world," the Portugal-based non-profit group SOS Lynx, which produced the report, said in a statement.

In 40 years, the population has slumped from thousands to an estimated 135, of which just 28 are breeding females. Just over a decade ago, there were still more than 50 populations in Spain and Portugal. Now there are two.

The report, ordered by the Parliament's group on the welfare and conservation of animals, says many of the remaining animals are widely separated and there may be only one viable population left: in the Sierra Morena, in southern Spain.

But this is threatened by a planned motorway that will cut the four-hour Madrid-Cordoba journey by a mere 19 minutes.

The only other breeding population, consisting of 35 lynx living in and around the Doñana National Park, southwest of Seville, may be too inbred to be viable without introducing new animals.

Similar in appearance to the Eurasian (or Siberian) lynx, but around half its size, and often confused with its smaller North American cousin, the bobcat, the Iberian lynx lives predominantly on rabbits and usually has a territory of up to 20 square kilometres in mountain country. Females weigh up to ten kilograms and males 13kg. Wild lynx can live up to 13 years but hunting and road kills mean most die before they reach half that age.

Dan Ward, a UK environmental policy expert who compiled the 60-page report The Iberian Lynx Emergency, claimed conservation efforts had "developed late and slowly".

"There is inadequate political coordination, no long-term funding, insufficient public and political support," he said, adding that saving the lynx needed to be connected to other policy areas, such as agriculture and road building.

One major problem has been outbreaks of diseases in rabbits which have reduced numbers by 95%, the report stresses. But a lack of hunting controls and damaging developments in lynx breeding areas have also contributed to the rapid decline.

Researched in September 2003-March 2004, the study calls on the EU to ensure long-term funding for lynx surveillance programmes, rabbit recovery and extensive habitat restoration and protection. It also suggests the EU applies more political pressure on Spain and Portugal to conserve lynx and create an expert committee to assess applications for funding of new development projects.

Caroline Lucas, a Green UK MEP and vice-chairwoman of the group that ordered the report, said: "There need to be radical changes in the funding and control of water, transport, and agriculture and forestry projects to save both the lynx and the EU's reputation."

Experts are evenly divided over whether or not the Iberian lynx is a separate species from the Canadian and Siberian lynxes, or merely a subspecies.

For now the animal, which once roamed all over Spain and Portugal and as far as southern France, remains listed on its own, as lynx pardinus.

The name lynx comes from the Greek word "to shine" and may be in reference to the reflective ability of the cat's eyes.

The Iberian lynx only exists in Spain and Portugal and is on the edge of extinction. According to a report released by the European Parliament on 26 April 2004, the creature may disappear in the next few years.