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Conservation actions see Iberian lynx claw back from brink of extinction
by Johan Augustin on 12 March 2021
By 2002, the Iberian lynx was extinct in its native Portugal and down to fewer than 100 animals in Spain, well on track to becoming the first cat species to go extinct since the saber-toothed tiger 12,000 years ago.
But a battery of conservation measures targeting the wide range of threats to the species has seen it bounce back from the brink, with a wild population today of around 1,000.
Reintroduction of captive-bred lynx has been complemented by rewilding of historical lynx ranges, along with boosting of prey species and the creation of wildlife corridors and highway tunnels to reduce deaths from road collisions.
First Iberian lynx of 2021 born in Silves to mother bred at centre
The first female born at the National Iberian Lynx Reproduction Centre in Silves, Algarve, has given birth to three cubs, as part of the Luso-Spanish conservation programme for this endangered species, the centre s manager announced.
The cubs were born on 27 February and are the first of the 2021 breeding season, the result of the mating of nine-year-old female Jerumenha with male Juncabalejo, who is also nine years old and arrived at the National Iberian Lynx Reproduction Centre (CNRLI) last November, the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), the centre s manager, explained.
Call of the wild
The European Commission has published a new report on the situation of the Iberian wolf, which will be presented to the European Parliament in March.
In a statement, the BE political party said that it has questioned the Minister for Environment and Climate Action in the Assembly of the Republic, wanting to know if necropsies were carried out on the corpses of the animals found in Montalegre and Bragança and what the conclusions were.
The Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) reported on 17 February the discovery of two Iberian wolf corpses in Xertelo, municipality of Montalegre, and Rio de Onor, Bragança.
Portugese Environment Minister João Fernandes said 16 Spanish hunters killing of 540 animals in in Azambuja in Portugal s Lisbon district was vile and an environmental crime .