The Iberian lynx is an endangered wild cat species native to the Iberian peninsula in
southwestern Europe.
The IUCN has tagged this beautiful creature in the endangered species list.
Their population has declined dramatically due to excessive poaching, lack of suitable
habitat and the near extinction of the European rabbit due to disease.
We hope that this creature is able to climb out of this problem since only about 1100
Iberian Lynxes remain.
Before we begin don’t forget to smash that like button and subscribe to the channel TopBest4Everything
for more.
So now let’s talk about a few facts about this amazing cat.
10.
Evolutionary guide The Iberian lynx has evolved from another
species of lynx that used to live in the Early Pleistocene.
The Iberian lynx diverged into a unique species around 2 million years ago and the Eurasian
lynx is its closest living relative.
9.
Quite the beauty The Iberian lynx is a beautiful creature with
short bright yellowish spotted fur.
These spots vary in shape and size.
The head is small and has tufted ears.
The body is short with long legs which allows it to run great lengths while hunting for
prey.
8.
Territory marker Just like dogs and many other wild cats, the
Iberian lynx marks its territory with urine and scratch marks on the barks of surrounding
trees.
Research has found that females have home ranges of up to 6 kilometers.
Males on the other hand have ranges of between 11 and 12 kilometers.
7.
Diet The Iberian lynx’s favorite meal is the
European rabbit.
However, they also like to eat red legged partridges, rodents and other creatures.
In fact, this cat will also prey on a young fallow deer and ducks if given a chance.
Males tend to eat one rabbit a day while females have quite an appetite, eating three per day
while raising its kittens.
They’re not very adaptive and have started struggling due to the decline in the population
of rabbits.
6.
Biggest enemy The Iberian lynx does not get along well with
the Iberian wolf.
The same goes for red fox, the European wildcat and the Egyptian mongoose.
In order to compete and go all the way, the Iberian lynx will kill smaller carnivores
such as the genet, mongoose and even the red fox.
5.
Searching for love Unlike us, it is the females of this species
who have to leave home to get lucky.
The gestation period is about two months and a litter usually has two or three kittens
who can carry their own weight when they are seven months old.
Once they are a year old, the kittens reach sexual maturity.
Kittens tend to be violent towards one another and the fights can be deadly at times.
4.
Illegal poaching and hunting It wasn’t until 1970s that hunting of these
wild cats was banned.
But in spite of these efforts, these creatures continue to suffer.
The animal has considered quite a prize catch for hunters who sell the their skins.
3. population decline In the 1960s, there were around 3000 lynxes
thriving in the wild.
By 2000, there numbers had gone down to 400.
Thankfully, conservation efforts have been successful to a certain extent.
Today, these cats exist in two small populations: a community can be found in the south of Andalusia
while around 200 individuals are thriving in Sierra Morena.
2.
Saliega In 2002, the Jerez Zoo inducted three females
for the captive breeding program.
Saliega was one of those females and was captures when she was a kitten.
Eventually, she became the first of her kind to breed in captivity and gave birth to three
healthy kittens in 2005.
Since then, captive breeding has done wonders.
In 2009, Spanish government planned to build a 5.5 million euros breeding center in Zarza
de Granadilla.
Portugal also has a breeding program in Silves which has nurtured around 120 individual lynxes
of which 89 survived.
73 of them were reintroduced in the wild in the Guadiana valley.
Since then, their population has grown.
1.
Low genetic diversity Due to factors such as fragmentation, population
bottleneck and isolated population units, the Iberian lynx’s genetic diversity is
lower than many other animals out there.
Due to this isolation, there is a high degree of inbreeding.
Due to inbreeding, the semen count has been found to be lower which further impacts the
efforts to increase the populations of these majestic animals.
Thankfully though, all these efforts have at least helped the creature bounce back from
the brink of extinction.
A couple of decades ago, fewer than 100 of these creatures were out there in the wild.
Today, the population is recovering slowly through initiatives such as the Lynx LIFE
program.
Boosting rabbit numbers has also played a crucial role in increasing the population
of these wild cats and in the coming years, we would love to see these magnificent beasts
jump on the least concerned status on the IUCN list.
Wouldn’t that be a monumental success?
That’s all for today, comment down below your favorite fact about the Iberian Lynx
and subscribe to the channel for more videos like this in the future.