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Iberian
Lynx on its Way to Recovery
European
Rabbit now Listed as Near Threatened
At the World Conservation
Congress in Barcelona in October 2008, the Iberian lynx
was one of the standard-bearers, and the only cat species
listed as Critically Endangered is also the frontispiece
of the 2008 edition of the IUCN Red List launched in
Barcelona. In the light of the charismatic endangered
species in the Red List, another up-listing went almost
unnoticed: The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus
is now Near Threatened: This species is a widespread
colonizer and is considered a pest outside its natural
range, where eradication of the rabbit is priority for
conservation. Within its natural range, almost exclusively
the Iberian Peninsula, however, populations have declined
an estimated 95% since 1950, due to disease, habitat
loss, and human induced mortality. O. cuniculus nearly
meets the Red List Criteria for Vulnerable (www.redlist.org).
As a matter of fact, in southern Spain, where the last
strongholds of the Iberian lynx are found, the rabbit
is partially too rare to allow for the presence, leaving
alone the reproduction of lynx. The rabbit is an absolute
keystone species of its ecosystem; e.g. no Iberian lynx
population can survive without a sufficient supply of
this little lagomorph. And yet, the intelligence available
on the demography, ecology, and epidemiology of the
European rabbit is surprisingly scarce. Hopefully, the
up-listing helps to generate more awareness for rabbit
research and conservation.
In Andalucía, the two
remnant lynx populations are maintained through an artificial
supply of rabbits, either directly in feeding station
or indirectly in breeding enclosures where only lynx
have access. These measures show effect; the Coto Doñana
total population has stabilised in recent years and
is now 50 (total estimation, 19 breeding females), and
the Sierra Morena population has even increased to an
estimated 150 (total estimation, 40 breeding females).
The magnificent photography by Joe Zammit-Lucia on the
2008 Red List brochure is not only beautiful, but also
symbolic for the Iberian lynx emerging from the dark.
On 17–19 November 2008, the III Iberian Lynx Conservation
Seminar took place at the University of Huelva in southern
Spain – and the topic of the meeting was “reintroduction”.
About 300 scientists and conservationist from Spain
and Portugal, representatives of the national and regional
environmental agencies, exponents of NGOs, journalists
and foreign experts joined to discuss one of the goals
of the LIFE-Nature programme 2006–2011: Creation of
new population nuclei of Iberian lynx in its former
range by means of reintroduction.
At the first and second
international seminar on the conservation of the Iberian
lynx in Andújar 2002 and Córdoba 2004, respectively,
the following short-, mid- and long-term goals for the
preservation of the Iberian lynx where defined: (1)
to stop the further decline and to maintain the two
remnant populations in Coto Doñana and Sierra Morena;
(2) to establish a conservation breeding population
in captivity; and (3) to secure the survival of the
species by creating new population nuclei independent
of the two existing ones through reintroduction using
captive stock.
Sooner than expected,
the third goal is now tackled. The captive breeding
programme will soon provide animals for the in situ
projects (see report by Astrid Vargas on page 25 of
this issue). However, the encouraging turn around in
the Sierra Morena population allows – or even forces
us – to consider wild-to-wild translocations, too. The
population is almost at its carrying capacity. The lands
surrounding the occupied areas are unfavourable for
rabbits and provide therefore no suitable habitat for
further expansion. The fate of lynx dispersing from
the area is only anecdotically known, but the demography
of the population shows that a considerable number of
animals are “lost” every year. The people from the LIFE
project have identified two areas not too far away from
the remnant population, but still far enough to build
new independent nuclei.
There is still a lot
of work to do to prepare a first reintroduction. But
with exception of a small group of animal right activists,
who believe that any intervention in a free living population
is bad, the participants at the seminar agreed that
reintroduction is the way forward. This first releases
will by no means create a viable population; the areas
considered are too small. But creating new nuclei reduces
the risk that any catastrophic event that may hit the
two remnant populations pushes the species over the
edge. The subsequent tasks will then be to prepare more
suitable sites for further reintroductions, not only
in Andalucía, but also in other regions of Spain and
in Portugal. And this brings us back to the rabbit...
Urs
Breitenmoser
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