The Iberian Lynx
Felis (Lynx) pardinus Linnaeus

Only half the size of a Eurasian lynx, the Iberian lynx is a spotted cat, with prominent ear tufts, long legs and a very short tail. It weighs about 12 kilograms, the females rather less.

As its vernacular name implies, this lynx is confined to the Iberian peninsula, where it appears to exist in fragmented populations spread mainly over the southern half of Spain, though it occurs in small numbers throughout.
The gray areas on the map show the principal areas in which the many scattered populations of this lynx occur.
The map is based on information in the Wild Cats Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan published by the IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group in 1996. This book gives much more detail about the distribution of this cat and is probably the best source of recent data available. See our Books page for more details.

The main prey animal is the rabbit, but other mammals such as deer fawns are also taken during the winter.

Mainly nocturnal.

Mating is believed to occur in January. Gestation is about two months, at the end of which two or three kittens are born. The kittens achieve independence at around eight months old.
Sexual maturity is reached at around one year old, but first reproduction may not happen until much later, dependent on various environmental factors.

The Spanish (or Iberian) Lynx rivals the Iriomote Cat for the title of the world's most endangered cat. The IUCN Red List has this lynx as Endangered. (Cat News 23, 1995, p.21)
The lynx is fully protected throughout the peninsula, and the main threat to its survival seems to come from declining prey numbers, mainly as the result of diseases which have drastically reduced rabbit populations in the region.