naturebriefs
9:40in productionCh. 1 · Endemic and ancient/ 9:40 · ceiling 15 min
Mammals · Conservation

Iberian lynx

A wild cat that survived only because we rebuilt its food web — and still cannot eat anything else.

The Iberian lynx is a medium-sized wild cat endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. It has lived there for around one million years. By 2002, only 94 remained in two isolated Andalusian subpopulations. Conservation efforts drove its numbers from 326 in 2012 to ~2,021 in 2024 — reclassifying it as Vulnerable. It relies almost entirely on European rabbits, which make up ~75% of its diet. Camera trapping in Sierra Morena (1999–2008) measured sex-differentiated home ranges: 5.2–6.6 km² for females, 11.8–12.2 km² for males.

MammalsConservationAnimalsEcologyExtinctionAnimals across the network →
Chapters & takeaways4
  1. 0:52
    Endemic and ancient

    It is a medium-sized wild cat found nowhere but the Iberian Peninsula — and has been there for a million years.

  2. 2:36
    Rescued, not recovered

    Its population fell to 94 in 2002 — then rose to 2,021 by 2024 through coordinated action.

  3. 4:09
    Territory by the square kilometre

    Females hold home ranges half the size of males’ — measured precisely in Sierra Morena over nine years.

  4. 6:00
    Rabbit or nothing

    It eats almost nothing but European rabbits — even when disease wipes them out.

Worth your time?

Yes. See the whole thing.

4/ 5
What works
  • Maintains precise territorial behaviour
  • Demonstrates measurable response to rabbit abundance
  • Shows clear lineage from Lynx issiodorensis
  • Responds to multi-pronged conservation intervention
What does not
  • Adapt diet beyond rabbits
  • Persist without active management
  • Occur outside Iberia
See it if
  • Conservation practitioners
  • Field ecologists
  • Predator-prey researchers
Skip it if
  • Casual wildlife tourists
  • Generalist natural history audiences
  • Habitat-generalist enthusiasts
The written brief1 min read

What the species is and where it came from

The Iberian lynx is a medium-sized wild cat, one of four extant Lynx species. It is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. Fossil evidence places it there since the end of the Early Pleistocene — around 1 million years ago. It evolved from Lynx issiodorensis.

How it works, in terms someone would actually use

The Iberian lynx lives in Mediterranean scrubland and open woodland across the Iberian Peninsula. It hunts alone, mostly at dawn and dusk, using dense cover to stalk prey. Its home range is small: 5–7 km² for females, 12 km² for males — measured by camera traps in Sierra Morena between 1999 and 2008.

What it gets right

It gets rabbit predation right: 75% of its diet is European rabbit. It gets territorial precision right: sex-differentiated home ranges were quantified in the field. It gets evolutionary distinctness right: it is monotypic and descended from Lynx issiodorensis.

What it does not

It does not adapt its diet when rabbits crash. It does not persist outside rabbit-rich scrubland. It does not maintain viable populations without active management.

What it changed

It changed how conservationists treat single-prey specialists: rabbit restocking, habitat restoration, translocation and captive breeding combined to lift it from 94 individuals in 2002 to ~2,021 by 2024 — enough to shift its IUCN status from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable.

Who it is for, and who it is not

It is for field biologists, conservation practitioners, and ecologists studying predator-prey collapse. It is not for casual wildlife watchers expecting easy sightings — it remains rare, range-restricted, and rabbit-dependent.

Is it worth your time

Yes — if you want to see a wild cat whose survival was reversed by targeted, on-the-ground conservation. No — if you expect it to thrive without rabbits or human intervention.

Same habitat · Mammals4 of 56
9:18
HibernationHibernation is a seasonal metabolic strategy used by some endothermic mammals to survive food scarcity. It is defined by active suppression of metabolism—not just low temperature—and includes species once excluded from the term, like bears. It does not apply to ectotherms. Duration varies. Preparation is essential. It changed how we classify dormancy across taxa.
9:29
PatagoniaPatagonia is a habitat defined by stark internal contrast — not biodiversity per se, but biome adjacency enforced by rainshadow and geology.
9:06
African bush elephantAfrican bush elephant
8:34
African forest elephantThe African forest elephant is a distinct, rainforest-adapted species—smaller, tusk-shaped differently, and socially structured unlike any other elephant. It sustains forest biodiversity by dispersing seeds from at least 96 plants. But poaching and habitat loss have driven it to Critically Endangered status. It is not a generalist. It is not visible on safari. It is not recoverable without urgent, range-specific protection.
Up next in Nature

Ice cave

· 9:44

An ice cave is not a frozen wonderland — it’s a thermal trap with plumbing.

Play nextBack to Mammals
9:44