IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
| Palomares, F. | |
| Life history and ecology of the Iberian lynx | |
| 2009 Book Chapter | |
The Iberian lynx, currently the world's most endangered felid species, is a medium-sized solitary and territorial felid whose only populations occur in the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula. This lynx species is highly specialized in its diet and habitat requirements, consuming almost exclusively European rabbits and inhabiting Mediterranean scrubland. Females normally breed once a year between 3 and 9 years of age, and only 2 of the 3 kittens of the litter usually survive. Between 1 and 2 years of age juvenile lynx abandon their mother's territory and disperse in search of new territories to settle as residents. The home ranges of adult lynx measure between 4 and 30 km2, depending on factors such as sex and rabbit density. Males tend to have larger home ranges than females. Core areas greatly overlap between adult males and females, but there is no overlap between adult individuals of the same sex. In the wild, the Iberian lynx experiences a high mortality from non-natural causes, particularly outside protected areas. There is strong interference between lynx and other carnivore species, with lynx killing species of smaller size such as red foxes, Egyptian mongooses, common genets, and domestic cats, which results in changes in the space use and lower densities of some of the smaller carnivores. |
|
 |
PDF files are only accessible to Friends of the Cat Group. Joining Friends of the Cat Group gives you unlimited access and downloads in the Cat SG Library for one year, and allows you to receive our newsletter Cat News (2 regular issues per year plus special issues). More information how to join here |
(c) IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group ( IUCN - The World Conservation Union) |