Pushed into a corner the lynx survives

The Iberian lynx, a separate species confined to Spain and Portugal, is still endangered

A project to reintroduce the Iberian lynx began in 2009.

The lynx is a medium-sized wild cat with a short tail and pointed ear-tufts. Once common throughout Europe, it was in Ireland around 9,000 years’ ago. Hunted to the verge of extinction, isolated populations have managed to survive in mountainous regions and Scandinavian forests.

Attitudes to wild predators changed in the 20th century; hunting was controlled and farmers were compensated for lost livestock. This led to a reprieve for Europe’s largest cat. Numbers have recovered slowly in its former haunts and reintroduction projects commenced in the Alps and the Jura.