130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Scale Status Population trend Justification Threats
Global / Europe Critically
Endangered
Decreasing
Small population size
Small, fragmented populations
1. Prey depletion
2. Non-natural mortality
3. Habitat destruction and fragmentation
Europe – Spain [13] , N/A Spain [13] , Portugal [20] :
Spain [13] :
regional Portugal [20] :
Range contraction
1. Prey depletion
populations
Critically
Decrease in abundance
2. Habitat destruction and fragmentation
Endangered
Causes of decline have not ceased 3. Non-natural mortality
Portugal: [20] :
1. Habitat destruction and fragmentation
2. Prey depletion
3. Non-natural mortality
adults/km 2 across Doñana [13] and 0.08 adults/km 2
over most of the species’ range [12] .
Legal protection and conservation status
Throughout its present range, conservation
measures are in place to ensure the continued
survival of the Iberian lynx. It is listed on
Appendix I of CITES [14] , Appendix II of the Bern
Convention [15] and Annexes II and IV of the EU
Habitats and Species Directive [16] . The Spanish
government paid for the destruction of lynx until
the 1950s, and it was only declared a protected
species here in 1973 [12] . Conservation action plans
were not implemented until the 1980s, although
many of the earlier efforts proved to be ineffective,
most likely because of lack of funding [10] . Around
80% of lynx occur on private property, which is
mostly managed for hunting [10] . Ex situ strategies
include captive breeding programmes in Spain [17] ,
where animals have already been released, and The
National Centre for the Iberian Lynx in Portugal,
which opened in 2009 [10] . The remaining two wild
breeding populations are being closely monitored
and conserved, and reintroductions have been
carried out in suitable areas [10] . In addition, public
awareness and education programmes have
helped attitude change, particularly among private
landowners [18] .
The global IUCN Red List and European Red
List both categorise the Iberian lynx as Critically
Endangered due to its small, fragmented populations
and decreasing trend (Table 1). It is considered
the most threatened cat in the world [19] and on
the brink of extinction [18] . It is listed as Critically
Endangered on the National Red Lists for Spain [13]
and Portugal [20] .
279 (Table 2). The largest population occurs in the
eastern Sierra Morena, which accounts for 68% of
the free-living individuals of the species. The other
extant population in Doñana numbers around 77
individuals. The species is believed to be extinct in
Portugal [9] .
With good evidence for the extinction of the
Iberian lynx in Portugal [9] , the species now exists
in only two populations in Spain isolated from
one another [18] . The Coto Doñana population
numbers around 77 individuals or 28% of the
global population, with only limited connectivity
between some of eight subpopulations [23] .
Doñana lynx have lost the pelage variation
found in other populations, giving rise to only a
single fur design in the area since the 1960s [24] ,
and the suspected genetic impoverishment has
now been confirmed at a molecular level [25] . This
is particularly remarkable considering the fact
that the diversity of the species is already much
lower than in other felids. Although Doñana is
within the Natura 2000 network, lynx frequently
disperse into the unprotected surrounding
areas, where they are at risk from poaching
and road-related mortality [26] . For example, ten
lynx were killed in collisions between 2004
and 2006 [27] , and this mortality could potentially
affect population size. In addition, other
anthropogenic causes of mortality identified
included illegal trapping, hunting and drowning
in man-made wells [28] .
The larger of the two remaining Iberian lynx
populations occurs in Andújar-Cardeña in the
eastern Sierra Morena mountain range. It accounts
for around 68% of the global population, with
190 individuals counted in 2010. The region has
Table 1.
Summary of Global
and European Red
List assessments and
threats for the Iberian
lynx [18, 21] .
Table 2.
Latest population
estimates for the
Iberian lynx in Europe.
Abundance and distribution:
current status
In terms of population size, a recent estimate
from 2010 puts the total number of individuals at
Estimate Year assessed Reference
Global / Europe 279 2010
[22]
% of global population 100%
Doñana 77 2010
[22]
Sierra Morena 190 2010
[22]
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