Iberian Lynx

The Iberian lynx is a medium-sized wild cat endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, one of only four living lynx species and the only one found nowhere else in the world. The species declined sharply through the twentieth century from overhunting, habitat fragmentation and a collapse in its main prey, the European rabbit, driven by disease, and by 2002 only 94 individuals survived across two isolated populations in Andalusia, briefly making it the most endangered cat species on Earth. Conservation measures including habitat restoration, rabbit restocking, and captive breeding and reintroduction programs have since driven a strong recovery, with the population rising from a low of 326 individuals in 2012 to roughly 2,021 by 2024, a rebound significant enough that the IUCN reclassified the species from endangered to vulnerable.