IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Castro, L.R.; Palma, L. | |
| The current status, distribution and conservation of Iberian lynx in Portugal | |
| 1996 Journal of Wildlife Research (2): 179-181 | |
The Iberian lynx _(Lynx pardinus) _is native to the Iberian Peninsula and ranked as endangered in IUCN's red data book. Its status in Portugal was studied in 1977 and superficiaIly updated in I989. Since then, new data have provided a better assessment of the situation. Lynx have an extremely fragmented, pocket-like, distribution in Portugal that may represent less than 10% of the Iberian range. Some of the main nuclei are western ends of transnational populations. Isolated relics survive throughout the country reflecting the former distribution area. The decline that began at the turn of the century worsened in the 1930's and 1940's and again in the 1960's and 1970's. It continues now, leading to a further decrease of lynx densities and a stronger isolation of the populations. The main causes have been habitat loss, wild rabbit _(Oryctolagus cuniculus) _scarcity (the felid's obligate prey) and human-related mortality. In several regions, the shortage of rabbits forced lynx to abandon the relatively quiet mountain cores to settle around in the unstable and insecure peripheries. Lynx conservation plans shall emphasize the mitigation of these factors and sound educational actions. In the Malcata Nature Reserve a lynx recovery plan is currently being carried out through habitat management and experimental restocking with rabbits. A country-wide project for the study and conservation of the Iberian lynx is now being set up. The main goals are to determine past and present distributions as well as the status of the populations and to_ _implement educational and conservation programmes. |
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