Post by LeopJag on Jun 5, 2012 20:19:57 GMT -5
Appearance:
Lynx pardinus is one of Europe's largest cats. The male weighs up to five times more than the domestic cat although its size can vary considerably. It is an animal of robust appearance with solid legs of which the rear pair are notably longer than those of the front. It has large paws, a relatively small head and a very short tail.
Its coat is long and thick. It has tufts on the tips of the ears and a "beard" which is especially noticeable in the winter when it may extend to a full ruff. This facial fur, as in all felids, plays an important role as a tactile organ. Long fur on the paws helps the animal in snow. The colour is reddish-yellow with large, well defined black spots.
Length: 85 cm to 110 cm (M) 84 cm to 88 cm (F) Tail: 12-13 cm
Height at shoulder: 55-70 cm
Weight: 12.8 kg to 16.8 kg (M) 9.3 kg to 11.2 kg (F)
Individuals with twice this weight have been observed
Diet
The Iberian Lynx eats European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) almost exclusively (93% of prey by weight during the summer), needing approximately one rabbit per day to satisfy its energy requirements (Nowell & Jackson 1996).
Lacking rabbits, the Lynx will hunt and eat young deer, mouflon, duck and other birds, fish and, possibly, foxes.
Behaviour
The Iberian Lynx is, above all, nocturnal and hunts at first light. It can swim well, climbs trees excellently and covers, on average, a distance of 7 kms daily.
It has extremely acute vision and will pursue its prey for large distances. It is generally a solitary animal but has been observed hunting in groups. Prey is usually carried a considerable distance before being eaten and the remains are always buried. A variety of locations are utilised for breeding and rearing its young, including depressions under the spine covered thickets (where it makes nests of grass and twigs), burrows, hollow trees and even old stork's nests.
The Iberian Lynx is extraordinarily specialised at trophic and habitat levels. It feeds almost exclusively on wild rabbit and occurs in areas of dense scrub and woodland where human presence is practically non-existent, namely in the native Mediterranean Scrub of the centre and south of the peninsula which is constituted mainly of holm-oak, cork and arbutus.
Its rarity, together with its solitary and elusive behaviour, makes its observation, and even its detection, very difficult. Consequently, its existence in a specific region can pass completely unnoticed, even by people who have lived there all their lives.
lynxpardinus.naturlink.pt/engindex.html
Note the 'beard'.
Fox and Lynx in Doñana National Park
CAT NEWS
Issue 6, Spring 1987
by J.R. Rau et al.
J.R. Rau, J.F. Beltran and M. Delibes of the Doñana Ecological Station in southwestern Spain presented a paper on a study of the relationship of fox and lynx in the Doñana National Park at a Seminar in October 1985 on the Ecopathology of Wild and Errant Dogs in the Palaearctic Zone. The following is their summary:
The number of red foxes Vulpes vulpes has increased dramatically over the last few years in the Doñana National Park, whereas a noticeable decrease in the numbers of lynx Lynx pardina has apparently taken place during the same period. The most popular (but rather naive) interpretation of the opposite population trends of foxes and lynx at Doñana correlates these trends and interprets the present situation as a displacement of lynx by an "invasion" of foxes. Such an idea could seem far-fetched to Central and Northern European naturalists, but we must remember that the Spanish lynx is only half the weight of the European lynx. While this hypothesis fails to explain why such an invasion did not occur before, considering the long history of sympatry of both species in the areas, it appears from the data presented in this paper that lynx and fox use different resources. However, the present day partitioning of resources can be viewed as due to a lack of actual competition, as well as an end-result of competition itself. On the other hand, in a stable system, it would be expected that the larger and more efficient predator, in this case the lynx, would displace the smaller and more opportunistic predator, the fox, as seems has been the case in the past. Therefore we should look for an alternative explanation, the appearance of a new disruptive factor operating in the area since the end of the 1970s.
In connection with this, an hypothesis could be put forward -- up to now lynx controlled fox numbers by interference competition (we know of cases of foxes killed by lynx), and were themselves controlled by rabbit availability (in other species of the genus no young survive at low prey density and in our study area no young apparently survived the autumn of 1982). Thus, a persisting low density of rabbits could induce a decrease in the number of lynx, especially in areas where they were already scarce, i.e. scrubland, and favour the build-up of a growing fox population. A further recolonization of the scrubland by lynx could later be made difficult because of competition with a number of foxes much higher than before.
Some other factors can also be put forward to explain both the drop in rabbit numbers, i.e. the severe drought which took place between 1979 and 1983; a new outbreak of myxomatosis; the absence of scrub management etc, and the ability of fox to quickly invade the "emptied" areas, i.e. increased human disturbance in the reserve; increased availability of carrion due to the drought etc. Some alternative hypotheses can also be put forward -- the lynx numbers could decrease in consequence of increased poaching, or of a greater probability of being killed by cars. However, these hypotheses require further research to be proved or falsified. In any case, high fox numbers seem to be more a consequence than a cause of the present low density of the lynx population. At present we feel that the control of foxes would probably not have any noticeable effect on the lynx population.
(J.R. Rau, J.F. Beltran and M. Delibes, Estacion Biologica de Doñana, CSIC, 41013 Sevilla, Spain)
lynx.uio.no/lynx/nancy/news/cn06_01.htm
body and skull measurements
Iberian lynx: Radical moves for world's rarest cat
By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC News
28 October 2010 Last updated at 04:14 GMT
It appears out of nowhere, stealthily slinking into view and well camouflaged against the dry Mediterranean backdrop.
We have been waiting in a cramped hide since the crack of dawn. And having been told that the chance of getting a glimpse of one of these beasts is vanishingly small, we have almost given up hope.
But suddenly, there it is: the most endangered cat on the planet, the Iberian lynx.
For just a second, it stops, staring at us with its kohl-rimmed, yellow eyes.
It is about a metre long, with a short, sand-coloured coat and leopard-like spots; it has large paws and a short, bobbed tail.
Then, distracted by a rustle in the grass, its huge black-tufted ears twitch. It crouches, pounces, and emerges back into sight a second later with a rabbit dangling from its mouth.
And, as quickly as it appeared, it is gone, blending back into the forest with its prized meal.
The Iberian lynx has suffered a catastrophic drop in numbers
We are in Andujar, in Andalucia, Spain, which along with the Donana National Park, just south of Seville, is one of the last isolated pockets where the Iberian lynx can be seen.
This cat was once common across the whole of the Iberian peninsula, but from the 1960s its numbers plummeted, dropping from an estimated 3,000 to approximately 150 in 2005.
Habitat loss, poaching and road accidents all helped to push this cat to the brink of extinction. Disease outbreaks in the cat's main food source - wild rabbits - have added to the woe.
In the past decade, frantic efforts have been under way to conserve the last few cats.
Some of these approaches have been quite straightforward, such as implementing supplementary feeding stations that are used to boost the cat's diet when rabbit numbers are low - like the spot where we had been lucky enough to spy our wild lynx that morning.
Taking some wild lynx into captivity was a tough decision But conservationists have had to get radical, too.
In La Olivilla, in Jaen, some lynx have been taken from the wild and placed in captivity with one key purpose: to breed.
Mariajo Perez, who runs the centre, tells me that this is not something that conservationists do lightly. But the situation was so bad, they were left with little choice.
She says: "It's worked really well so far. Our cats have been breeding really successfully - we have had eight cubs this year."
There are now about 40 cats in the centre, and other captive breeding centres in Andalucia have also managed to give a much needed boost to lynx numbers.
But the next challenge is to release the cats back into the wild, which could start next year.
Guillermo Lopez, from the Lynx Life project, knows all about moving animals.
He and his colleagues have been relocating some of the wild cats from the Andujar region to another carefully selected site some kilometres away, in the hope of establishing a new population.
He says: "So far, we have released six individuals - three males and three females. One of the females has had two cubs, so we feel very optimistic."
The team has been looking for new sites for the lynx - but could they move even farther afield in the future?
Moving animals from one place to another - or translocation - is becoming an increasingly common weapon in the conservationists' fight against extinction.
It helps to build up new populations and to ensure genetic diversity among ever shrinking groups of animals.
But scientists are now considering a much more controversial measure, which could one day mean that animals like the Iberian lynx are moved even farther afield.
Chris Thomas, professor of conservation biology at the University of York, UK, says: "The problem is that as the climate changes, the places that are best to put such endangered species back are not necessarily the same places where they historically used to occur."
He says that a changing climate will mean that some species will not be able to adapt or perhaps, due to geographical barriers, migrate to a new, more suitable home.
So instead, scientists will do it for them: literally pack up whole populations of species to shift them elsewhere. It is an idea called assisted migration (or assisted colonisation).
And it has many critics. Intentionally creating invasive and therefore potentially problematic species goes against just about every conservation convention. But the idea has been gaining momentum among some.
Prof Thomas says: "When I first heard about this, my immediate reaction was that this is crazy.
"But if we have a large number of species, potentially thousands, even hundreds of thousands, that are going to die out from climate change, we should at least ask the question: 'Is there anywhere else on Earth that they don't currently live in where they could in the future survive?'"
Things are looking up for the Iberian lynx
So far, examples of assisted migration have been few, but include a study that revealed the small skipper and marbled white butterflies did well when moved further north in the UK.
But Prof Thomas argues that we must at least start thinking about the feasibility of these kinds of moves - even when it comes to animals like the Iberian lynx.
He explains: "It is worth at least considering whether the Iberian lynx - this truly endangered species - could in the future find a home in, say, the British Isles.
"Of course, the answer might be that this wouldn't work. But we should contemplate such things given that the climate is changing, and the best places for a species are now on the move."
No place like home
For now, at least, efforts to save the Iberian lynx look set to remain focused in its home domain.
And scientists are optimistic about its future. Since 2005, numbers of wild lynx have steadily grown to around 300.
Miguel Simon, director of the Lynx Life project, says: "In the 10 years that we have been working on its conservation, the population in the Sierra Morena has doubled, and there has been a 50% increase in Donana."
The next step is to create three more populations in Portugal and Spain, at which point the cat would no longer be classed as critically endangered.
And with this, Dr Simon says, this magnificent Mediterranean cat could finally lose its unfortunate claim to fame as the world's rarest feline, and instead become a symbol of conservation success.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11586279
