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Ngala · 05-01-2016, 04:18 AM

This is post i would dedicate to Iberian Lynx, Lynx pardinus (Temminck, 1827).

This is the world's most endangered cat species; now is considered endangered, but it was for a long time critically endangered; if the Iberian Lynx becomes extinct, it would be the first feline species since Smilodon (the sabre-toothed cat) around 10,000 years ago. Now i write some information from IUCN Red List.

I share soon other information from sources that treat it. If you are interested, share all information, photos and videos.

Taxonomic notes:
Was previously considered conspecific with Lynx lynx by some authorities, but is currently accepted as a distinct species on the basis of both genetics (Johnson et al.2006, Eizirik et al. submitted) and morphology (Werdelin 1981, Wozencraft 2005).

Range Description:
The Iberian Lynx is restricted to two separate regions of southwestern Spain, namely eastern Sierra Morena and the coastal plains west of the lower Guadalquivir. These isolated subpopulations have been named by Simón et al. (2012) as Andújar-Cardeña and Doñana-Aljarafe, respectively. Two new nuclei are being founded though reintroduction 30 km southwest (Guadalmellato) and northeast (Guarrizas), respectively, of the existing Sierra Morena subpopulation, and contained a few breeding females in 2012 (Simón 2013). Five additional sites in four Spanish regions (Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Murcia) and Portugal are being prepared for reintroduction; the first release in Portugal happened in late 2014 (Iberlince LIFE project 2014).

Countries occurrence:
Native: Spain
Reintroduced: Portugal (Portugal (mainland))

Population:
The extensive survey by Guzmán et al. (2004), carried out primarily during 2001, yielded an estimate of 26-31 breeding territories which could correspond to a maximum of 62 mature individuals. According to estimates produced in the framework of successive European Union LIFE Nature conservation projects, population size tripled from 52 mature individuals in 2002 to 156 in 2012 (Simón et al. 2012, Simón 2013).

Habitat and Ecology:
The Iberian Lynx is a strict feeding specialist; the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) accounts for 80-99% of its diet (Ferreras et al. 2010). The Iberian Lynx is also a habitat specialist that breeds only in Mediterranean shrubland containing dense rabbit populations (Palomares et al. 2000, Palomares 2001). Threshold rabbit densities for lynx reproduction are 4.5 ind./ha during the annual population peak and 1.0 ind./ha during the annual trough (Palomares et al. 2001). Productive breeding territories also contain a high density of scrub-pasture ecotones which favour both ecological conditions for rabbits and a structure suitable for lynx hunting (Palomares 2001, Fernández et al. 2003). Other essential habitat elements include natural cavities that are used as natal dens (Fernández et al. 2002, 2006). On the other hand, forestry landscapes, farmland or other open land devoid of native shrubs are rarely used by resident lynx (Palomares et al.1991) but occasionally used by subadults during natal dispersal (Palomares et al. 2000).

Major Threat(s):
During the 20th century hunting and trapping were major sources of mortality associated with predator control and exploitation of wild rabbits (Rodríguez and Delibes 2004). Whereas the importance of this factor as a threat for Iberian Lynx has decreased (Ferreras et al. 2010), during the last years some lynx have been shot or caught with illegal traps (Iberlince LIFE Project 2014). Road casualties typically produce several losses each year (Simón et al. 2012, Iberlince LIFE Project 2014), as the length of paved or widened roads, as well as average traffic loads, have significantly increased in and around lynx areas (Ferreras et al. 2010).
Homogenization of mosaic cultural landscapes due to agricultural and silvicultural intensification during the 20th century conceivably contributed to lynx decline (Rodríguez and Delibes 2002, Ferreras et al. 2010). Continued trends of abandonment of marginal livestock farming and loss of small game, sometimes followed by afforestation, further reduce the amount of potentially suitable habitat for reintroduction. Without viable land uses, maintaining suitable mosaic landscapes for the Iberian Lynx would require enduring and expensive intensive management (Rodríguez 2013). Even in landscapes with suitable structure and subject to intensive conservation management, rabbit abundance exhibits large temporal variability closely tracked by the probability of lynx breeding (Palomares et al. 2001, Fernández et al. 2007, Iberlince LIFE project undated).
Effective population size does not exceed 25 for each isolated subpopulation (Casas-Marcé et al. 2013), announcing further losses of genetic diversity and accumulation of inbreeding through genetic drift. Indeed, persistent small population size over lynx generations, especially in the lowlands of the Doñana region, have produced signs of both demographic and genetic deterioration, including biased sex-ratios, decreased age of territory acquisition and litter size, and increased mortality due to disease and other natural causes (Palomares et al. 2012). Lowered demographic and genetic performance could positively interact in the form of an extinction vortex (Palomares et al. 2012).
As a manifestation of global change, human-assisted spread of virulent diseases affecting European Rabbits had catastrophic effects on Iberian Lynx populations in the past (Ferreras et al. 2010). Although rabbits could eventually develop resistance, viral diseases remain a recurrent threat as the arrival of new strains may cause again a lasting depression of food availability for the Iberian Lynx. Moreover, the prevalent rabbit lineage in southwestern Iberia, where rabbit restocking and other conservation measures take place, might be more vulnerable to rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) than the northeastern lineage (Real et al. 2009). For example, a new RHD strain has been blamed for an annual 62% decrease in productivity (average number of kittens per territorial female) in Andújar-Cardeña subpopulation (Iberlince LIFE project, undated). Likewise, diseases affecting felids also spread, sometimes with the help of uncontrolled pets that become feral or visit lynx areas from nearby towns. For example, in 2007 a feline leukaemia outbreak killed a substantial fraction of lynx in Doñana (López et al. 2009, Palomares et al. 2011a). Finally, detailed models combining ecological niche and metapopulation dynamics show that, without intensive intervention, climate change will rapidly decrease lynx populations and would probably lead to Iberian Lynx to extinction within 35 years (Fordham et al. 2013).

Source: Lynx pardinus from IUCN Red List

Fortunately, it's a short time ago that the total population is growing (94 in 2002 to 404 in 2015), but the population is still low, while the number of deaths is high.

Photo and information credits: Martin Steenhaut