Another 3 species of lynx exist, all in the Northern Hemisphere: Lynx Rufus (red lynx) and Lynx canadensis (Canadian lynx) are found in North America. In addition to the Iberian lynx, the third variety, the northern or Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx, lives in Europe.

Description
A feline of medium size, slightly less than a metre in length, males reach a weight, on average, of 15 kg while the females weigh around 8.5 kg. They are unmistakable in appearance, with a streamlined body, long legs and a very short tail with a black tip. The ears are large and pointed with a tuft of black hair on the tips. The face has long hair on both sides, forming thick sideburns which are larger in the adults. The coat is speckled, with black spots on a tawny background, and each individual has a unique design in terms of the size, shape and distribution of the spots.

The paw prints – rounded and typically feline, display four digital pads in an arched shape, without nail marks, and clearly separated from the main pad which is three-lobed in shape. The droppings are cylindrical, large and dark in colour, although the coloration depends on many factors, such as its content - almost always rabbit hair and bones - the time deposited, the weather conditions, or the effect of micro-organisations and insects.

Biology
The lynx is a carnivore with a marked sense of territory; they do not tolerate the presence of individuals of the same species and sex in their territory, nor of other species of predators, although areas occupied by males and females usually do overlap. The size of male territories varies between 1,000 and 1,700 ha and female territories between 500 and 1,200 ha, although the surface area occupied depends to a great extent on the supply of rabbits. They are active mainly at sundown or nocturnally, hunting their prey by lying in wait, normally alone. These predators are specialised in catching rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), which represent 80-90% of their prey overall in the localities where they have been studied. They complete their diet with micromammals, birds and ungulates (females and young). As a super-predator, the Iberian lynx captures or expels from its territory other carnivores such as foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and mongooses (Herpestes ichneumon) reducing their populations and favouring numbers of their common prey, fundamentally the rabbit.

The mating season lasts from January to February, and gestation lasts sixty to seventy days. The young are born in March to April in hidden, inaccessible places such as craggy or rocky areas and hollows of large trees or areas of dense vegetation. The size of litter varies from one to four kittens. The period of exclusive lactation lasts only a few weeks; from three to four months old the young begin to leave the lair, accompanying their mother. Definitive dispersal of the young takes place between the first and second year of life; the duration and distances of these movements of dispersal depend on the availability of food and shelter, as well as the presence of other lynx. During this period the mortality rate of dispersing individuals is extremely high.

The Iberian lynx does not have any major natural predators.

Habitat
They inhabit areas of well-conserved Mediterranean mountainside with little human presence. In addition to the existence of water sources or rivers inside their grazing area, they need abundant vegetation, crags and rocky areas where they can find refuge. For hunting they require other clearer adjacent areas, preferably with grazing land, which can sustain major populations of rabbits. The minimum density needed to sustain a reproductive population of Iberian lynx is 1 rabbit/ha in autumn and 4-5 rabbits/ha at the end of the spring.

Distribution
The Iberian lynx is a native of the Iberian Peninsula. In the past it occupied the entire Iberian Peninsula, however its area of distribution has gradually become fragmented and has continuously retracted up to the present moment.

The latest populations located to the north of the central mountain range (Sistema Central), in the Iberian mountains, the Mediterranean arch and the Andalusian mountain ranges died out during the first half of the 20th century. In 1988 the species spread over Old and New Castile, the Madrid region, Extremadura and Andalusia. Currently there are two reproductive nuclei in Andalusia: Doñana and the Andújar-Cardeña mountain range; this last the most significant one. Ciudad Real recently witnessed the presence and reproduction of the species in the area of Sierra Morena. In addition, in this area and other locations in the region - Montes de Toledo and the Sierra de Guadalmena mainly - in recent years some droppings of Iberian lynx have been collected, pertaining to different individuals.

Distribution of 10X10 UTM grids with recent presence of the Iberian lynx, determined by genetic analysis of excrement (from Alda et al 2008). Shown jointly with the Castilla-La Mancha LICs.

All these factors have reduced and fragmented populations of Iberian lynx, causing the complete disappearance of many and drastically reducing the total number of individuals. As a consequence, the stability and viability of the best groups still surviving has been affected, especially the enclave of Doñana and, to a lesser extent, the Sierra de Andújar-Cardeña. This last has now become the main reserve for the conservation of the species, providing evidence in recent years of a hopeful recovery in their numbers.

As regards action taken recently to preserve the species, this has been based on the protection and recovery of their habitat, the elimination of non-selective methods of predator control, and the recovery of rabbit populations, both on public estates and in private properties.

On the other hand, the positive results of the rearing in captivity programme, run in Andalusia, will bring both animals for the new breeding centres in Portugal, Extremadura and Ciudad Real, and also the first reintroductions of the species into Andalusia with animals from this programme.

Legal Status
Since 1990 the Iberian lynx, Lynx pardinus, has been included in the “In Danger of Extinction” category in the National Catalogue of Endangered Species (Royal Decree 439/1990, of 30th March).

In Castilla-La Mancha the species is included in the Regional Catalogue of Endangered Species in the “In Danger of Extinction” category (Decree 33/1998, of 5th May). The Iberian lynx recovery plan was approved in September 2003 and a number of critical areas for the survival of the species were declared in Ciudad Real (Decree 276/2003 of 9th September).