Status: Endangered
Estimated numbers left in the wild: 1111
Countries found in: Spain and Portugal (endemic to Europe)
The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is a wild cat species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe.
The Iberian lynx is thought to have evolved from Lynx issiodorensis. The earliest fossil remains of the Iberian lynx date to the Early Pleistocene.
The Iberian lynx genetically diverged as a unique species 1.98 to 0.7 million years ago. Its closest living relative is the Eurasian lynx with which it coexisted to a certain degree until the 20th century.
Why are these animals threatened?
The Iberian lynx population had declined because of overhunting, poaching, fragmentation of suitable habitats, and the population decline of its main prey species, the European rabbit. By the turn of the 21st century, the Iberian lynx was on the verge of extinction, as only 94 individuals survived in two isolated subpopulations in Andalusia in 2002. Conservation measures have been implemented since then, which included improving habitat, restocking of rabbits, translocating, reintroducing and monitoring Iberian lynxes. By 2012, the population had increased to 326 individuals, to 855 in 2020, and to 1,111 in 2021.