In the year 2002, an international seminar took place in Andújar in southern Spain to
discuss how to save the Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus from extinction. There was no
consensus over conservation concepts then, and the cooperation between scientists
and conservationists, but also between the different political and administrative units
was limited. A following series of consultative visits and meetings with various key
institutions and experts has allowed to shape a strategy based on the benchmarks of the IUCN Red List categories. The first phase included establishing an ex situ population to prevent total extinction, the second was to expand the population in the Sierra Morena through translocation and release of captive-bred lynx that allowed to down-list the species to Endangered in 2015, and the third to start reintroduction projects beyond the Sierra Morena, what allowed now to down-list the Iberian lynx to Vulnerable.

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During the Pleistocene and Holocene, the geographical range of Lynx pardinus included the Iberian Peninsula, southern France and possibly the Italian Peninsula. In historic times, the Iberian lynx distribution was restricted to the dry-summer-climate areas of the Iberian Peninsula. The distribution range between the 16^th and the 20^th centuries inferred from historiography was mainly restricted to the south-western quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula with isolated nuclei elsewhere. The Central Range, Montes de Toledo and eastern Sierra Morena were the larger populations. Both historiography studies and genomic analyses coincide determining a dramatic population bottleneck during the 17^th century, probably linked to an increased human pressure. A population increase followed from the 18^th to the 19^th centuries, as a consequence of a lower anthropogenic persecution due to a rural exodus. At the turn of the 20^th century, the species was almost absent in northern and eastern Iberia, but was still abundant in the southwestern quadrant. The depletion continued, and, during the second half of the century, two additional threats hit the Iberian lynx population: the “Extinction Councils” and the decrease of rabbit populations due to diseases. Despite being legally protected since the 60s, the depletion continued and many population nuclei vanished during the 1970s and the 1980s. Only eastern Sierra Morena and Doñana display records after 1993. By 2000, a survey based on photo-trapping and molecular analysis of scats found that only ca. 95 individuals remained alive in two secluded areas of southern Spain: Andújar-Cardeña in eastern Sierra Morena and Doñana. The species was found to be extinct in Portugal.

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The Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus has experienced notable changes in distribution and
numbers during the past 70 years. Parallel strong variation in extinction risk was
adequately reflected in the 11 IUCN Red List assessments RLAs published since
1966, from Endangered (1986–1996), through Critically Endangered (2002–2008) and Endangered (2015), to Vulnerable (2024). The use of original data sources, the access to raw data, and the transparency of the narrative supporting the assigned threat category increased over time. Access to original data allowed recalculation of parameters following RLA standards, yielding sometimes quite different results. A detailed rationale supporting the threat category assigned is presented as a supplement to the 2024 RLA.

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Given that the Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus was recognised as the world’s most
endangered cat species, a conservation programme (including both in situ and ex situ
conservation measures) was implemented as of 2002. In situ conservation measures
have mainly been implemented through four EU-funded LIFE-Nature projects. In the
first stage, the goal was to prevent the imminent extinction of the species in the refuge areas, and measures to increase the carrying capacity by increasing rabbit density were implemented. Habitat improvement for rabbits (those favouring ecotones between meadows and bushes), wild rabbit restocking in large enclosures and supplementary feeding were performed. Moreover, measures to reduce poaching (including awareness, agreements with key sectors and surveillance), road kills (mainly through the construction of secure passes, fencing the risk road sections, awareness and signalling) and infectious diseases (sanitary control and genetic management.) were implemented. These two programmes together allowed the Iberian lynx population to grow from 94 individuals in 2002 to 310 individuals in 2011. Meanwhile, an ex situ conservation programme was created since 2003 to conserve the remaining genetic stock and provide individuals for reintroductions. After 2006, programs for genetic management and reintroduction were added to the conservation programme of the Iberian lynx. The genetic management programme mainly issued the negative effects caused by inbreeding in the Doñana population, such as fertility problems and a high impact of infectious diseases. The reintroduction programme allowed a much faster population growth than all previous measures. This programme included 1) the selection of best areas for reintroduction, 2) the preparation of the area for releases, 3) the selection of the best individuals to be released and 4) the post-release monitoring. Overall, 441 Iberian lynxes have been released in 8 reintroduction areas throughout Spain and Portugal. All reintroduction areas experimented a fast population growth until carrying capacity was reached. By 2023, a minimum number of 2,021 Iberian lynx were recorded, and releases of two new reintroduction areas began in 2024. To sum up, the result of the reintroductions allowed a faster population growth leading to a significant success of the Iberian lynx conservation programme.

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The Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus ex-situ conservation programme was established in 2001, as the species was Critically Endangered, with the aim of maintaining a healthy, genetically sound captive breeding population to prevent extinction and provide a source for future reintroductions. After a slow early progress, the programme rapidly expanded after 2005 to a network of exclusive and associated breeding centres in Spain and Portugal. Extensive research advanced understanding of lynx reproductive biology leading to developments such as genus-specific pregnancy diagnosis, while assisted reproductive techniques and biobanking are being developed to optimise genetic management and reproductive output. The programme faced severe health challenges during its expansion - vitamin D toxicosis and disorders of likely genetic basis causing threatening clinical and demographic issues. When the programme reached its maturity, a specialised reintroduction training protocol for the Iberian lynx was implemented to promote natural behaviours critical for survival in the wild prior to release. By 2023, over 700 cubs had been produced across the breeding network from over 400 breeding events, and 403 lynxes have been released so far, playing a pivotal role in re-establishing 8 new free-ranging populations across the Iberian Peninsula and downlisting the species to Endangered and recently to a Vulnerable conservation status. Maintaining adequate population size, genetic diversity, and dealing with the overcrowding of enclosures due to the demographic challenge are priorities going forward as additional reintroductions are required to reach and maintain a favourable conservation status. Adapting the ex-situ programme to face other emerging challenges such as the rehabilitation of injured/orphaned or conflict generating free-ranging lynxes is necessary while upholding core principles that have enabled the program's success so far.

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The Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus is one of the most genetically depauperated species on earth. This is likely due to the combination of long-term small population sizes and serial historical bottlenecks. Conservation actions, including captive breeding, translocations and reintroductions, have minimised genetic risks through genetic management, which involved the admixture of the two remnant populations. Furthermore, a strategy based on the minimisation of mean kinship has succeeded in increasing genetic diversity and reducing average inbreeding in remnant, captive and reintroduced populations. To further support this genetic management, an ambitious monitoring programme based on the genetic individualisation of scats collected over known lynx territories was implemented, which is allowing to estimate census and to reconstruct the genealogies of the reintroduced populations. Thanks to this, current lynxes are less inbred and populations are more diverse on average than any of the two remnant populations were by the end of the 20^th century. Preliminary evidence indicates that this has also contributed to population growth through the higher fitness of admixed individuals. As populations grow and systematic releases are eventually stopped, the intensive individual-based genetic monitoring and management should shift towards a population-based monitoring and management. Conservation actions should be maintained until its long-term viability is guaranteed, and this will require the establishment of at least three populations with effective sizes above 150, 10 subpopulations over 40, and migration rates close to 0.1 between neighbouring subpopulations.

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By the early twenty-first century, the Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus was on the brink of extinction. As of 2002, conservation actions, including habitat management, reduction of mortality rates, reintroductions and genetic management, were implemented. As a result, about 700 Iberian lynxes were detected in the whole distribution area in 2018, and six new populations were created through reintroduction. At that point, the following step was to promote demographic and genetic connectivity among populations in order to assure the long-term conservation of the species. To this end, the LIFE Lynxconnect project is currently being developed with the goal of creating 10 more occupied areas functioning as stepping stones located among the existing populations. Moreover, new reintroduction projects are ongoing. In 2023, a total of 2021 individuals and 406 breeding females were detected. Of these, 92 individuals were detected in a total of ten stepping stones. Iberian lynx population has spread through the surroundings of the existing population nuclei, even in highly anthropised areas (such as agricultural lands) with high rabbit density and low levels of non-natural mortality. For example, the large olive groves surrounding the remnant Andújar-Cardeña population currently support more than 151 individuals. These findings suggest that the Iberian lynx holds greater ecological plasticity than previously thought, opening the door to new conservation strategies where habitat quality must be evaluated in a novel way. However, both non-natural mortality and rabbit population crashes can limit the growth and expansion of Iberian lynx populations. Road kills and poaching are the major causes of mortality, with average annual rates of 6.5% and 4.9%, respectively, for the entire geographic range. Too high mortality rates can locally hinder the settlement of the species in an area. Likewise, diseases continue to cause declines in European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus populations in some areas, thus limiting the suitable area for further Iberian lynx colonisation.

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The reduction in the extinction risk of the Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable is proof that conservation can work to bring species back from the brink. However, that does not mean that the work of conservation is over; preventing extinction is merely the first step on the road to recovery. In 2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN expanded the Red List of Threatened Species assessment to include a standardised assessment of species recovery: The IUCN Green Status of Species. The Green Status of Species assessment assigns species to recovery categories, complementary to the classic extinction risk categories. In addition, the Green Status of Species provides a method to evaluate the impact of past conservation, and the potential for future conservation impact, on species’ status. In 2023, the first-ever Green Status assessment for the Iberian lynx was conducted. Though the species’ status has improved greatly over the past decades, its Green Status has nonetheless been assessed as Largely Depleted, indicating that there is more work to do to restore the species to pre-impact levels. However, the assessment also indicates that without past conservation actions, the species would likely be Extinct in the Wild today. The assessment also indicates a high Recovery Potential, meaning that it would be possible to recover the species across much of its former range with concerted conservation effort.

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The Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus is a trophic specialist. Among mammals, its dependence on rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus is paradigmatic. They account for more than 80% of the biomass of the feline's diet, up to 99% in some cases. Moreover, lynx productivity and the survival rates of cubs and sub-adults depend on rabbit population densities. Beyond its role as the main prey of the Iberian lynx, the rabbit deserves prominence for itself. European rabbit populations in their natural distribution range were classified as Endangered in 2018 by IUCN, after a sharp decline of more than 70% between 2008-2018. Rabbit population monitoring is the first essential step for an adequate management of both lynx and rabbit populations. Monitoring in the Iberian Peninsula has been characterised by the lack of common methodologies among regions, which prevents reliable, updated and comparable data from being obtained at the Iberian scale. This lack of information on the status of rabbit populations, the incidence of diseases or their impact on agriculture greatly complicates its management – and thus fuels the human-wildlife conflict. To address this complex situation, the LIFE Iberconejo project was launched in 2021. Up to date, LIFE Iberconejo has been able to develop 1) an European rabbit coordination committee ERICC, 2) a common, Iberian-scale monitoring system for the species, (population and health status and damage to crops), and 3) good management practices for the species. The goal of LIFE Iberconejo is to establish a long-term, evidence-based management of the European Rabbit. Preliminary monitoring results have helped identify “stepping stones” within the frame of LIFE LynxConnect.

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The conservation of the Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus has been a success. It is still necessary, however, to invest efforts to bring the species out of threat. To evaluate future conservation needs, a Favourable Conservation Status (FCS; minimum population size considered necessary to ensure long-term viability of the species according to the EU Habitats Directive) analysis was carried out for the Iberian lynx population by 2019. It found that the presence of 750 breeding females in the population was the main goal to reach the FCS. In order to reach that goal, the creation of eight more new populations would be necessary. Another recent study indicates that the long-term genetic viability of the metapopulation requires 1) 2,165 effective individuals (ca. 1,100 breeding females), 2) an increase in the subpopulation size of 50–200% and 3) migration rates close to 0.1 among neighbouring subpopulations. Again, these goals need the creation of at least 8 new subpopulations. To achieve the long-term viability of the Iberian lynx population, both studies identified the need of 1) incorporating new regions into the reintroduction programmes, 2) choosing those areas with the highest growth potential and larger expected carrying capacity (even if they are more poorly connected than other smaller areas) and 3) maintaining ex situ breeding centres at full capacity at least until 2030. After these two studies were conducted, four new reintroduction areas have been started: Valdecañas-Ibores (Extremadura), Sierra Arana (Andalusia), Lorca (Murcia) and Campos de Hellín (Castilla la Mancha). Moreovoer, there are five more areas that have been evaluated, one in Castilla La Mancha, two in Aragón and two more in Castilla y León. Finally, there are five more areas under evaluation nowadays, one Andalucía, two in Madrid, one in Comunidad Valenciana and another one in Catalonia. With these forecasts, the Iberian lynx could reach its FCS within the next 2 decades. Likewise, the number of administrations and entities involved in the conservation of the species is increasing, requiring a complex decision-making structure. Therefore, a common Strategy for the conservation of the Iberian lynx in Spain and Portugal has been developed.

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