Numbers of Iberian lynx have been decimated by habitat loss, with scrublands converted to agriculture and pine and eucalypt plantations, and with human development such as dams, highways and railways all encroaching on its native habitat (1) (3). Conversion of habitat and overhunting have also reduced populations of the lynx’s main food source, the rabbit, and rabbit numbers also declined drastically after the introduction of the myxomatosis virus in the 1950s (1) (3) (5). Whilst myxomatosis is not such a threat today, a new disease that arrived in Spain in 1988, known as Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease, is once again threatening rabbit numbers (1) (3) (5). Despite protection measures and heavy fines, illegal hunting continues, and the accidental killing of lynx in rabbit traps, traps set for smaller carnivores, or with poisoned fox bait, together with road fatalities, are some of the major causes of mortality at present (3) (5).
Only two isolated breeding populations of Iberian lynx are now known to remain, totalling perhaps 170 adults at most, and no other populations are believed to include individuals that breed regularly. Already naturally at risk due to its dependence on a specific habitat and a single prey species, the Iberian lynx’s tiny and fragmented population unfortunately only increases its vulnerability to extinction (1) (3).