Guardian, February 11, 2002

When we think of exotic big cats, our minds usually picture the jungles of Africa, the rainforests of South America, the peaks of distant mountain ranges. Snow leopards or Siberian tigers, you may think, are the world's rarest felines. However, there is one species, which faces such a serious risk of extinction it may disappear well before this decade is out. And it lives much closer to home.

The Iberian lynx, which inhabits the hills and open forests of south-western Spain and Portugal, is heading for extinction at a dramatic rate. In 1988, there were just 1,200 lynxes thought to remain. Today, though, as few as 300 of these magnificent animals are left.

In the last four decades, its range has shrunk by a staggering 90 per cent. From a species that recently ranged the entire peninsula, it is now reduced to populations numbering a dozen animals or fewer inhabiting scattered islands.

Some of the last strongholds of the lynx, sometimes referred to as Europe's tiger, include some surprises - such as the hills overlooking the famous beaches of the Algarve. However, the plight of the 'Algarve Tiger' is a shocking story of neglect, persecution and environmental destruction. International conventions, European directives and national laws list the lynx as a 'priority' species, and forbid the destruction of its habitats. But fine phrases have been left on the shelf in the day-to-day reality of the market.

The majority of lynx territories remain unprotected. Traps, snares and bullets still take a heavy toll on animals. And European taxpayers are unknowingly subsidising deforestation and the building of new dams in areas key to its survival. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of kilometres of highways are being built in the heart of lynx country. By contrast, the total amount spent on lynx conservation to date would barely be enough for 1km of new road.

Whilst European leaders lecture so-called 'Third World' politicianson the need to preserve the habitats of tigers, elephants and black rhinos, one of the world's oldest feline species is being allowed to die out on our own doorstep. Worse still, those very leaders are in many cases responsible for bringing this species to the brink.

The Iberian peninsula is a miracle of biodiversity, but one that is now under threat. A melting pot of mountains and plains, forests and steppe, wild rivers and scrubby foothills, it is home to over 100 mammal species and nearly 400 different birds, many of them exclusive to this region. The contrasts between the warm Mediterranean climate and cool, humid Atlantic winds helped make this landmass a fertile ground for such variety.

But so did the traditional farming practices of the area's early settlers, which still continue in some parts, favouring the development of species such as the lynx, a descendant of an African wild cat that roamed the earth 35 million years ago, and which successfully adapted itself to the oak forest habitat - and the supply of wild rabbits. (The word 'Hispania' means 'land of rabbits'.)

The use of the forests' natural resources for animal feed, fuel and wild foods conserved the thick bushy layers under the trees that lynxes use for shelter and cover. Small clearings for grazing and orchards allowed rabbit numbers to grow. Farmers adapted their needs to the area's thin soils, learning to use the wilderness to their advantage whilst conserving its precious resources. Holm oaks were pruned for charcoal, cork oaks were stripped for their cork, and the acorns of both were used to feed animals. The bushes of lavender and heather attracted bees-- for making honey and pollinating fruit and vegetable gardens, whilst herbs were used for medicinal and culinary purposes. These methods are still practised on the Portuguese and Spanish farms in many parts of the south-west of the peninsula, where the lynx is still present. Unlike many other forms of agriculture, this ancient system of mixed farming is not only sustainable, but provides a rich habitat for birds and mammals. And for thousands of years, lynx and farmers lived side by side in relative harmony.

However, the expansion of agriculture early in the 20th century began invading many untouched and semi-wild areas. The lynx was also hunted for its fur. In the 1930s, for instance, as many as 500 pelts were traded every year. After World War II, local authorities organised hunts to rid areas of lynx and other species considered 'vermin'. In fact, the lynx rarely attacks farm animals, and has never been known to attack humans.

Although lynx hunting was banned in Spain and Portugal in the late 1960s, and the lynx subsequently became a protected species, traps, snares and bullets continue to this day to be the leading cause of non-natural mortality. Some have been found shot at close range, suggesting they were killed deliberately. Many were young lynxes dispersing from their natal territories in search of a new home, thus depriving populations of vital new genetic resources.

Some types of traps, used to catch rabbits are legal. Many, however, are not. The laying of poison also poses a risk to the lynx. As with traps, poisons do not discriminate between their victims. Even if a lynx survives, it may be left severely debilitated, and unable to hunt. Researchers have in recent years found many injured lynxes with legs and teeth mutilated from the struggle to free themselves.

Furthermore, over the last three to four decades, much of the region's natural vegetation has been simply destroyed. Some areas have been burnt to make way for urban development, or bulldozed for large infrastructure projects, such as highways and dams. These have inundated the riverbeds and valleys that were once rich in rabbits, and travelled by lynxes in search of a mate.

Others have been systematically replaced by new forms of intensive agriculture, such as the colossal expanses of plastic that grow early strawberries for UK supermarkets, or industrial-scale monocultures of pine and eucalyptus - an Australian tree grown to supply the paper industry - that occupy areas where old woodlands and bush once stood. Whole hill ranges have been machine-terraced and stacked with these alien trees, causing massive soil erosion and water table depletion, and creating a sterile, lifeless environment in which neither the lynx nor its prey can survive. Moreover, they have increased both the frequency and ferocity of forest fires.

In the last 10 years, over 1 million hectares of woodland have burnt in Portugal, and there are 8,000 forest fires every year in Spain. Those lynx which survive are usually driven to hostile environments unsuited to their needs.

Today, Portugal's largest landowner is a logging company. And the plantations, many subsidised with European taxpayers' money, are still growing. To further complicate matters, in the 1950s, a French doctor lost patience with rabbits that had been attacking his vegetable garden, and imported from Australia a disease called mixomatosis - with catastrophic results. Entire rabbit populations were wiped out - and many lynxes starved or failed to reproduce. Then, a few decades later, just as rabbit populations began to develop immunity, disaster struck again. A new virus virtually eradicated rabbits from the Iberian Peninsula in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Today, rabbit populations are thought to number just 5 per cent of 1960s levels. There can be few more shocking spectacles than that of a starving, emaciated lynx barely able to walk.

The consequent fragmentation of lynx populations has had a devastating impact on the species' gene pool. Those lynxes still able to breed are forced to do so with close relatives. As a result, the animal's fertility suffers and it becomes more prone to disease and immune deficiency illnesses.

For those lynx that remain, any unfavourable event - a road accident, new dam or snare - could have a disproportionate impact on the local population. A disease affecting one animal can wipe out all the others, in turn provoking the collapse of a nearby group. As today's lynx populations become more isolated and vulnerable, the possibility of a domino effect becomes a serious prospect.

 

Today, the Iberian lynx finds itself in a pre-extinction phase. Many animals are little more than wandering individuals travelling ever greater distances in desperate search of food and shelter, encountering ever greater dangers and obstacles, and unable to find a mate. Sightings of pairs and young cubs are increasingly rare.

However, European and national authorities have not responded to scientists' frantic warnings. On the contrary. More large infrastructures - including new motorways and mega-dams - are now being planned and built in some of the most important remaining lynx habitats - even when official studies confirm the presence of lynx.

Meanwhile, official conservation efforts are either limited or have yet to be implemented. A promised captive breeding programme has not materialised. And the rapid decline in population has not been stemmed.

And all the while, rural communities, traditional farming practices and potentially valuable natural resources are being forgotten, or lost. Lynx habitats are examples of the best conserved ecosystems in Europe. The situation of the Iberian lynx is thus a litmus test of the health of our own environment.

The scrubby hills are rich not just in wildlife but also foods and medicinal plants. The berries of the strawberry tree - an important part of the lynx habitat - are the most concentrated source of vitamin C available, but local communities have been unable to develop this market through lack of investment.

Cork forests - used by female lynxes to rear their young - not only absorb a significant proportion of Europe's greenhouse gases, they are also a critical barrier against desertification. Cork bark is a natural and effective insulation material, and could help reduce energy use and global warming yet further. Yet these forests continue to be cleared to make way for holiday home complexes, industrial estates and water sports facilities. The heavy promotion by stealth of plastic stoppers by big supermarket chains threatens to undermine the future of rural communities - and lynx habitats - once and for all.

The failure to save the lynx is a failure to recognise the importance for humans of these rich, complex and unique ecosystems. Political neglect has led to many people abandoning their homes and farms in search of work elsewhere, leading to widespread landscape degradation and the deterioration of habitats. If just a proportion of the billions of euros, dollars and pounds spent subsiding logging companies and building big dams were invested in local communities, both the lynx and rural areas could perhaps have a future.

The world stands on the brink of the first of perhaps many future extinction crises. Few may have thought it could happen so soon and so close to home, or that its causes could be so closely related to the models of 'progress' and development that we take for granted.