Spanish Lynx | ||||||||||||||
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Scientific Classification | ||||||||||||||
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Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
Lynx pardinus |
This lynx was once distributed over all of Spain and Portugal. It is now largely restricted to mountainous areas, because it is extinct in the lowlands. Spanish Lynxes prefer open grassland with few trees. They hunt at night, and in the daytime they hide under the shrubs.
The Spanish Lynx is critically endangered and one of the rarest cat species. There are about 1000 individuals, some of them in tiny reservations. 50 lynxes live in Portugal, the remaining populations in Spain. The largest lynx population is located in the Coto Doņana National Park. Lynxes are protected and not hunted anymore, but they are still endangered, mainly due to the decimation of hares and rabbits by myxomatosis.