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Date Published: 21/06/2024

Iberian Lynx goes from endangered to merely vulnerable

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The Region of Murcia has played a role, albeit limited, in the recovery of this formerly endangered species

Iberian Lynx goes from endangered to merely vulnerable

One of the rarest wild cats in the world, the Iberian Lynx, is no longer classified as in danger of extinction, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and has been moved to the slightly less serious ‘vulnerable’ category.

These wild cats are native to the Iberian Peninsula, formed of Spain and Portugal, and the population grew tenfold from 62 mature individuals in 2001 to 648 in 2022. The combined young and mature Iberian Lynx populations is now at an estimated 2,000, the IUCN reports.

The Region of Murcia has played its part in this thanks to its participation in the 2012 lynx recovery project ‘Life Iberlince’ and the 2020 ‘LIFE LynxConnect’, which aim to reintroduce lynxes into the wild in the highlands of Lorca, as well as parts of Andalucía and Castilla-La Mancha.

While on the scale of the Iberian Peninsula, the lynx population recovery programme has been a success, in Murcia it still faces challenges, such as the area the animals are being released into being inadequate in terms of size and proximity to human populations.

Just days before this announcement from the IUCN, another Iberian Lynx was shot dead by hunters in Lorca.

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