The annual report of the lynx working group, coordinated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) confirms the recovery trend of the species. According to these data, the Iberian population of Lynx pardinus has broken a record, with a total of 1,365 specimens currently registered, including adults, subadults and cubs born in 2021.

The annual report of the lynx working group, coordinated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) confirms the recovery trend of the species. According to these data, the Iberian population of Lynx pardinus has broken a record, with a total of 1,365 specimens currently registered, including adults, subadults and cubs born in 2021.

The study thus reveals the best recorded data on Iberian populations of the species, with an increase of almost 23% compared to the 2020 census in which 1,111 individuals were counted.

The document shows that the Iberian lynx population continues the positive upward trend of recent years, now reaching the highest number of specimens registered since monitoring programs of the species have been in place. The success of the Iberian lynx conservation program – one of the most successful in the world in felines – is confirmed considering that two decades ago the number of specimens counted was less than 100. Likewise, despite these results, the species is still officially considered ‘in danger of extinction’, according to the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species.

Of the 13 population centres registered in the Iberian Peninsula in 2021, 12 are located in Spain, with 1,156 specimens. Of these 12 Spanish nuclei, five are located in Andalusia with 519 individuals; three in Castilla-La Mancha with 473 individuals and four in Extremadura with a total of 164 specimens. In this way, Andalusia is once again the Spanish autonomous community that leads the population data, with almost half of the specimens distributed throughout the country. However, the largest population increase is recorded in Castilla-La Mancha, a community in which the population increase is around 45% in a single year.

In Andalusia, the nuclei that register the most specimens are those of Andújar-Cardeña with 200 individuals, and Guarrizas with 164, followed by Doñana-Aljarafe in which 94 have been registered, Guadalmellato with 44 and Sierra Norte with 17. In the case of Castilla-La Mancha, the nucleus of Montes de Toledo stands out with 221 specimens, followed by those of Sierra Morena Oriental with a total of 170 and Sierra Morena Occidental with 82. In the case of the community of Extremadura, the main nucleus is that of Matachel with 121, followed by those of Ortigas with 20, Valdecañas/Ibores with 14 and Valdecigüeñas with nine specimens.

All population parameters considered, including the total number of lynxes; The number of breeding females and the number of puppies born show a clearly positive trend since the beginning of the coordinated action programmes in 2002.

In 2021, 500 births of 277 breeding females were counted. Global productivity, understood as the number of puppies born per breeding or territorial female, was 1.8 for Spain, and 2.3 for Portugal. For the Spanish autonomous communities, the ratios of puppies born per female were 1.4 in Andalusia, 2.4 in Castilla-La Mancha, and 1.4 in Extremadura.

This general evolution shows the favorable trajectory of the species, which distances the Iberian big cat from the critical risk of disappearance. However, the census data also show the need to remain cautious about the future of the species, give continuity to conservation programs, and favor the implementation of measures that contribute to the improvement of the different populations of the Iberian lynx in both countries.

The Iberian lynx working group is made up of the national administrations -MITECO in Spain and the Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas de Portugal-, and regional administrations -Junta de Andalucía, Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and Junta de Extremadura- which have developed continuous activity in the field of conservation of the species over the last two decades. which has been strategic in obtaining these results. Non-governmental entities such as WWF and CBD Habitat have also been proactively involved, whose work has been equally decisive. And, in the same way, European funding has also contributed significantly to the success of the programme through different projects aimed at improving the populations of the species.

ESSENTIAL ROLE OF CAPTIVE BREEDING

Together with these habitat management actions and protection against existing pressures in the natural environment, the ex situ conservation programme of the Iberian lynx has played an essential role. The program includes captive breeding work and the reintroduction of specimens. This programme has been developed within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the Iberian Lynx Conservation Strategy in Spain, signed between MITECO and the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura. Portugal is also actively involved in this programme.

MITECO, through the Autonomous National Parks Agency, actively contributes with its own funds to this ex situ conservation program, maintaining and managing two of the four existing breeding centers specifically dedicated to this purpose: Zarza de Granadilla (Cáceres) and El Acebuche (Huelva). The remaining breeding centres are managed by the Junta de Andalucía (La Olivilla, Jaén) and Portugal (Centro Nacional de Reprodução de Lince Ibérico or Centro de Silves).

The monitoring data for 2021 can be consulted on the MITECO website .