130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Table 3.
Major reasons for
positive change in the
status of the Iberian
lynx in Europe.
latter focuses on public outreach, patrols for
illegal poaching and increased road safety (e.g.
under-/overpasses, reduced speed zones, fencing,
reflective lighting) [10] , and these actions are argued
to have greatly decreased mortality [44] . Stakeholder
engagement has led to some landowners signing
agreements with the administration in order to,
for example, suspend rabbit hunting [1] . However,
these were based mostly on economic compensation
and there is no published study that demonstrates
a change in owners’ attitudes towards
Iberian lynx [1] . Nevertheless, the involvement of
land owners is important, as the majority of lynx
occur on private property [10] . The translocation of
four individuals from Sierra Morena has successfully
increased genetic diversity in the Doñana
population [45, 46] , and reintroductions have been
undertaken into Guadalmellato and Guarrizas [10]
using individuals raised as part of the Iberian
Lynx Captive Breeding Programme [47] . However,
captive breeding cannot really be argued to have
contributed to the conservation of extant wild
population and the success of the reintroductions
is pending rigorous evaluation [1] .
Overall, both extant populations of lynx have
shown moderate improvements in status over
the past few decades, and much of this appears
to be attributable to habitat management while
the relative importance of education, road safety
measures and reintroductions remains unknown.
Recent developments
Rank Reason for change Description
1 Land/water protection &
management
2 Species management
– measures to decrease
non-natural mortality
3 Species management
– translocations,
reintroductions and
captive breeding
4 Species management –
stakeholder engagement &
education
The Doñana population has been increasing at a
lower rate than the other extant population over
the past few years, and this increase is attributable
to recoveries outside the National Park, while inside
its boundaries the trend is reasonably stable [44] .
Lower predator control and growth of thick
scrubland associated with a shift from small to
large game hunting management may have been
beneficial for rabbits and therefore lynx in the
Sierra Morena [39] . Habitat quality improvements are
argued to have contributed to some improvements
in status in both extant populations [10] . The
high relative density of lynx found in protected
areas is also attributed to habitat management
strategies [43] .
Patrols for illegal poaching and better road safety [10]
are argued to have greatly decreased mortality [44] .
Translocation has increased genetic diversity
in Doñana [45] , and reintroductions have been
undertaken into Guadalmellato and Guarrizas [10]
using captive-bred individuals [47] .
Some landowners have signed agreements to
suspend rabbit hunting [1] . However, these were
based on economic compensation and it is not
clear whether attitudes towards the species have
improved [1] .
However, the population’s genetic diversity is of
concern, being much lower than that of the Sierra
Morena [46] . In a bid to increase genetic diversity, a
total of four individuals were translocated from
the Sierra Morena in 2007, 2008 and 2010 [45, 46, 48, 49] .
These releases are set to continue until a minimum
of four individuals have settled permanently in
Doñana [44] (Table 3).
The Sierra Morena population, on the other
hand, has more than doubled since 2002 [44] . An
extensive breeding programme resulted in the
first kittens being born in captivity in 2005 [50] .
The first half of 2009 saw the survival of 17 cubs,
bringing the number raised in the Iberian Lynx
Captive Breeding Programme to 77 [47] . In Portugal,
the National Centre for the Iberian Lynx opened in
2009 [47] ; it is the first captive breeding centre in the
country and lynx are to be transferred here from
Andalusia [47] . With the opening of another facility
at Cáceres in 2011, breeding centres now exist in
four locations in Spain and one in Portugal [51] .
While captive breeding has clearly been successful,
the significance of its contribution to the conservation
of the species is unknown [1] .
Reintroductions into an area deemed suitable
in Guadalmellato (Córdoba) started in 2009 and
appear to be successful so far despite a number
of setbacks [52–54] . Releases are continuing, with
three juvenile males and two females being the
first to receive a hard release in March 2011 [55, 56] ,
bringing the current number of individuals in this
population to 12 [57] . Another target area for reintroduction
is Guarrizas [58] , where five individuals were
introduced in 2011 [59] after spending a year in pre-release
enclosures [49] . Despite the loss of a female [60]
and one of the founding males [61] , reintroductions
are continuing [61] , and the population currently
numbers five [57] . In addition, habitat management
is ongoing as part of the LIFE programme in
various regions, including Castilla-La Mancha and
Andalucía in Spain, and in Portugal [10] .
One continuing problem for the Iberian lynx
is human-induced mortality. For example, in
Doñana, at least 62% of all deaths had anthropogenic
causes [28] . In particular, infrastructure
developments in and around the parks, as well
as dispersal of a growing lynx population, have
resulted in a large increase in road casualties.
To ease the impact of traffic on the lynx, two
overpasses opened in 2011 around the Doñana
Natural Area [62] and there is evidence that these are
being utilised by the species [63] . The threat remains,
however, and roads are also a major concern in
Sierra Morena, especially near the reintroduction
site Guadalmellato [64] .
Although there is evidence of a more recent
recovery in abundance of the Iberian lynx in
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