Here’s a list of animals on the brink of extinction compiled by EcoWorldly. We borrowed it to help the cause and spread the word. For more details visit the last page’s bottom.
1. Iberian Lynx
The Iberian (Spanish), Lynx lives in very small areas of central and southern Spain (Andalucia). It used to live throughout Spain and Portugal but its numbers have been drastically reduced to the point where it is now one of the most endangered wild cats in the world.In the early 1950s a virus named Myxomatosis was illegally introduced by a French scientist to wild rabbits on his estate to protect his vegetable patch. Tragically the virus spread rapidly, and killed about 90% of the wild rabbits in France. Spanish rabbits also died in huge numbers even going completely missing in some areas, so thousands of lynx starved to death. Habitat loss, hunting and trapping also have decimated the lynx. They are protected now, but they still get caught in fox traps. Another cause of death recently is getting hit by cars in Donana (Doñana) National Park.
Population size: approximately 100 – 150
Reproduction: Females breed about once a year, with a litter size of 1-3 cubs. In breeding captivity programs, a litter of 3 cubs was born in 2005, and another 3 cubs in March 2009.
What Can I Do?
Donate to S.O.S Lynx, a lynx conservation organization. They have a PayPal donation option
on their site. Or sign up to receive their e-news: news@soslynx.org. Image Credit: Iberian Lynx Conservation Program.
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Posted by E.J. on Sunday, April 19th, 2009 at 10:04:06
Posted in Environment, World
Tags: Amur, Andalucia, animals, antelope, biodiversity, Cameroon, cetacean, China, conservation, Dagestan, EcoWorldly, extinction, frog, gorilla, Java, leopard, lynx, Mexico, Nigeria, rhino, Russian, Saiga, Silky Sifafka, Spanish, Sumatra, tiger, traditional chinese medicine, USA, vaquita, Vietnam
