The lynx, the quintessential Iberian wild cat, has gradually left the ICU where it entered at the beginning of the century, when it was literally one step away from its disappearance. Thanks to the joint work of institutions, naturalists, rural owners and hunters for two decades, something as exemplary as it is unusual, this autochthonous breed began a frank recovery that has allowed international authorities not to consider it at risk of extinction even though they continue to appreciate dangers for its survival. The lynx already sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but the recovery work needs two more decades of effectiveness to place the species out of all risk.
The Doñana Biological Station, the institute of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) that protects the bastion where the last pairs of lynx resisted, has published a study with the battery of essential measures if this cat is to be definitively saved. The research carried out by the Doñana experts defends that for the lynx to avoid extinction, it is not enough to multiply, but it must also break with its current inbreeding, something that only gives it genetic weakness and makes it vulnerable to changes, threats or setbacks in its ecosystem. . In other words, in addition to its traditional enemies – being run over, the decline of the rabbit (its livelihood), the harassment of urban planning and climate change – the genetic factor threatens it. “The recovery of a species not only depends on the absolute numbers of its population, but also on a minimum genetic variability to guarantee its survival,” explains José A. Godoy, one of the authors.
Of the 8 territories where the feline lives free, it would be necessary to go to 16 and achieve an exchange of 8 to 15 specimens between neighbors
three conditions
These scientists consider that at least three conditions must be met to ensure the feline’s genetic viability: growth of the population and reproductive females, increase in settlement areas and connecting corridors between these areas to allow migration and interbreeding.
On the first point, they calculate that the lynx population, which numbered 1,668 last Christmas, needs to at least double, to between 3,000 and 3,500 individuals, and, above all, that the females in a position to reproduce should triple, that the 326 at the last count increase to 1,100. They believe that it would be feasible by 2040 as long as the regenerative effort that has allowed the population to multiply by 18 in 20 years (from the 94 that remained in 2002) is maintained, with annual growth of more than 20% since 2019.
The second requirement of the biologists is to double the number of subpopulations, which is what they call the natural settlements of the species. It would be necessary to go from the eight enclaves that there are today in the peninsula to no less than sixteen, because what is currently “is not enough”. Sierra Morena, through the Montes de Toledo, the Matachel Valley (Badajoz) and the Guadiana Valley (Portugal) and are beginning to be reintroduced in Sierra Arana (Granada) and Lorca. But this is not an easy goal to achieve in the medium term due to the enormous cost involved in creating new subpopulations and the scarcity of suitable areas with a sufficient density of rabbits.
There is a third essential condition. A higher level of migration of the specimens. The subpopulations should be sufficiently connected to favor genetic exchange between them. An exchange of between eight and fifteen individuals per generation between neighboring subpopulations should be achieved.
In favor of the purpose they have that lynxes have shown a great capacity for migration. “They have traveled hundreds of kilometers and, in some cases, have successfully established themselves in other subpopulations,” says Godoy. To achieve this, it is necessary to create ecological corridors or establish intermediate subpopulations with few reproductive pairs that function as guides to attract dispersed individuals and direct them towards the next settlement.
In relation to the reintroduction of the lynx in Lorca, the bad news has been accumulating since the release of the specimens. The necropsy carried out on ‘Tiko’, one of the eight lynx reintroduced in the Highlands of Lorca, revealed a massive ingestion of plastics. ‘Tejo’ was rescued in July in poor condition, after having lost 20% of his body mass. And the Environment technicians still have no news from ‘Torrealvilla’, whose monitoring collar appeared next to the highway.
#CSIC #asks #triple #number #females #remove #lynx #extinction #danger