English project Iberian Lynx

8/7/2019 English project Iberian Lynx

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-An Iberian lynx is just over twice the size of a domestic cat, butwith longer legs, giving it a more lanky appearance, particularly

in younger individuals on their trek to find a territory for

themselves, when hunger making them leaner.

-By the time they reach full adulthood around three years old-

they become heftier and less gangly. They are frequently

confused with wild cats, although a sure identification (DNA

apart) is the much larger paw prints of the lynx even when

cubs.

-An adult lynx weighs 8-15 kilos (females a little less than

males) and sports a stubby bob tail, characteristic pointed earstopped by strands of hair. These puff out when the animal is

frightened or irritated.


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The ideal habitat for lynxes is amosaic of mature Mediterranean scrub

with open forest, and meadows in which

to hunt (the scrubby edges of meadows are a particular favourite

where it can hide and pounce on rabbits) with a presence of

old trees, for example corks, areas of dense vegetationin which to rest and raise cubs and an absence of pines and eucal

yptus. Fire has reduced much of this mosaic to a dense thic

ket of rock rose (jara) stands.

The animal seems unconcerned by differences I

n relief, as the flat expanses of Doana and the craggy hills

of Andjar testify.


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s. -Lynxes need around just under a rabbit a day. The crucial timedetermining the lynxs population is autumn when rabbit

numbers are at their lowest. Rabbits make up 75-100% of lynxes

diet, depending on the area and the time of the year, though

experienced adults are capable of bringing down roe deer and

even red deer. (In parts of Spain they were known as lince cerval

or lobo cerval the deer wolf). They will also take small birds,

ducks, partridge, rodents, hares, especially when the availability

of rabbits is low. But nowhere can they survive for long with a

sizable rabbit population. Like most European carnivores, lynxeshunt mainly at night, herein the difficulty in actually seeing and

photographing them. Lynx will stalk their prey though their most

common technique is to lie in wait for hours behind a bush or

rock, until the prey is sufficiently close to pounce in a few

lightning


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-IF ANYONE KNOWS the Iberian lynx, it is Francisco Palomares. The 42-year-old

Spanish biologist has, for the past 20 years, worked to protect the perilously

endangered cat.

-He has designed spaces in the wild where the creature is more likely to

survive, he has explored the causes of its drastic decline, and he has published

enough scientific studies on it to qualify as a recognized world expert.

-Yet during a study of the lynx's reproductive habits that he began more than a

decade ago, Palomares and his team observed something they could not

explain:

- In most litters, within the first three months following birth, one of the kittens

simply disappeared. The mystery's solution might prove crucial to the survivalof the world's most endangered feline, yet for all of his expertise, Palomares

could not figure out why these kitten deaths occurred. It took an

unprecedented triumph, followed by tragedy, to suggest the surprising answer.


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-The Iberian Lynx, the most endangered of the worlds 36 cats, stands on the edge

of extinction.

The latest studies, based on DNA analysis, make depressing reading.

-Despite decades of protection, millions of pesetas and euros spent, hundreds of

studies, and the work of some of Europes best conservationists and zoologists,

just over one hundred viable adults remain in the wild (in comparison, say, with

some 8,000 tigers) divided between two unconnected breeding populations in

Andalusia.

- Whoever and whatever is to blame, the lynxs imminent disappearance will be

the first extinction of a world feline, discounting sub-species of tigers and lions,

since the sabre-toothed tiger some 10,000 years ago and will forever leave a darkmark on Spanish conservationism.


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The decline of the Iberian Lynx has been a long one. Until 1960 itshistorical decline had been chiefly through hunting for sport and for its fur,but through the 1960s and 70s its fall was accelerated. This was as Spainbegan to modernize with the destruction of habitats resulting from damand road building, the intensification of agriculture, and by thedestruction of the lynxes ideal habitat through fire. By the 1980s the

Iberian lynxs population was left just over 1,000 individuals. Its breedingarea is estimated at barely 120km2, a pinprick on the map of Spain. Theextensive use of traps and snares in recent times to kill foxes rather than lynxes haveclaimed many individuals. The Spanish Lynx has suffered an intense lack of fooddue to many man-spread diseases affecting their routine prey, the rabbit. The

Lynxes are also affected by these diseases and die as a consequence of neglect.


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Presented By: (In alphabetical order)

Apoorva Khosla

Kanika Mohan-Emcee

Manan Sadh

Lokshree Agnihotri

Vanshika Sharma

Documents

English project Iberian Lynx