NATURE . WILDLIFE

LEAP OF THE LYNX

52' (ENG, GER)

Once, the Iberian lynx thrived across the entire Iberian Peninsula. At the outset of the third millennium, sad remnants of some 150 individuals survive in two tiny isolated habitats: the rugged mountains of Sierra de Andujar, and the coastal swamps of Coto Doñana.

On the Iberian Peninsula, primeval landscapes are practically non-existent, so the Iberian lynx has lived on cultivated land for centuries – cattle, horse and pig pastures, cork oak forests, timberland, and even holy sites of pilgrimage. The diversity and beauty of these locations are truly stunning and their character and history as relevant to this story as that of the big cat itself.

Until five years ago, both populations of Iberian lynx were quickly fading away. Their fragmented habitats were shrinking even further, they were starved by lack of prey and reduced by epidemics. But now, local authorities, scientists, landowners, and other groups have finally begun to act in unison.