Other threats.
- Loss of its main prey the European rabbit
- disease
- over-hunting (why is this cat hunted? It was banned in the 1970s but obviously enforcement is not effective enough)
- high rates of non-natural lynx mortality (does this mean trapped etc.?)
- even in the Parque Nacional de Doñana Iberian lynx are still trapped and killed by people (Sunquists)
- Why not relocate some Iberian lynx to the UK as part of a survival plan
75% of all lynx mortality on the peninsula are by non-natural means (Sunquists). Without being too politically incorrect or sounding racist, I think it fair to say that the people of the Iberian Peninsula generally are not overly concerned with animal life. I make this assessment on the fact that there are relatively few animal charities in the area and based on a discussion with a colleague who lives and works in Spain. Animals are historically in existence for the benefit of the people in one form or the other.
The Iberian lynx has been endangered in the wild since the mid 1980 and almost nothing it seems has been done to improve that classification.
The population sizes are now so low and the situation so serious that this cat is likely to become extinct in the wild in the not-too-distant future. If it did, it would be the first wild cat to become extinct in 10,000 years. It is probably the most endangered carnivore in Europe. So, what sort of conservation has occurred?
The above is based on Red List figures. The estimated figure for 1960 is based on 80% drops in population sizes over two measured periods. The 6,000 figure is a conservative estimated. In a telling indication as to the loss of this cat and its habitat, in 1992 Rodriguez, A | Delibes, M in a research paper headed Current range and status of the Iberian lynx Felis pardina Temminck, 1824 in Spain stated that:
- there were 45 breeding areas in Spain and
- 1100 individuals in Spain
need to have some on the adaptations