Iberian Lynx

The Iberian Lynx is the second most endangered wild cat in the world, so if you are privileged enough to be in Spain or Portugal and have one of these stunning cats in the viewing scopes during your Iberian Lynx wildlife tour, then you can celebrate with a few drinks that night!

The Iberian Lynx has very similar physical characteristic to the European Lynx, but with males weighing in at around 14kg, they are half the size of their close relative. They are a fairly specialised predator, which is often a disadvantage in a world dominated by man and where shrinking wilderness habitat is the norm. Their diet is predominantly rabbits and hares, although they will occasionally take birds and fish. Their fur is typically greyish, with tints varying from yellowish to rusty and is distinctly spotted.

Mating season is from December to February. One to four, usually 2-3, kittens are born after a gestation of 60-70 days. Female Lynx choose small cavities like caves, rock cervices and hollows in trees to raise their young. The Iberian Lynx kittens are eating solid food by 1 month but will nurse for 3-4 months becoming independent around 10 to 11 months of age.

These Lynx are found to inhabit scrub vegetation, Mediterranean woodland and maquis thicket. A combination of habitat destruction, persecution by hunters and road kill resulted in this beautiful cat coming close to extinction, so the priority was to create viable protected areas with high prey density – particularly rabbits – so the Iberian Lynx had the best conditions to rebound for its dangerously low population numbers. After great success growing the core population in Andalusia, it was essential to give the lynx more room to breed by creating new populations in other regions and avoid a disease wiping out a large population. Based on the quantity of rabbits and the quality of the habitat, sites were selected in Sierra Morena, Montes de Toledo, and the Matachel valley in Extremadural, as well as the Guadiana valley in Portugal.