{"id":2186068,"date":"2025-03-13T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T05:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2186068"},"modified":"2025-03-08T15:21:57","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T14:21:57","slug":"spains-rewilding-of-iberian-lynx-at-risk-after-lobbying-by-hunters-and-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/spains-rewilding-of-iberian-lynx-at-risk-after-lobbying-by-hunters-and-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s rewilding of Iberian lynx at risk after lobbying by hunters and farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only last year it was hailed as a conservation success story: the Iberian lynx, which had been close to extinction, had sprung back to life thanks to a two-decade-long effort to expand the population.<\/p>\n

Now, however, that progress is at risk after several regional governments in Spain acceded to pressure from farmers and hunters to block the reintroduction of the species into the wild.<\/p>\n

Claiming the wildcat preys on livestock, as well as rabbits and partridges, opponents of the lynx have made breakthroughs, threatening to undo efforts that helped its population grow to about 2,000 across Spain and Portugal.<\/p>\n

Often the lynx was falling victim not to serious objections but to unrelated political bickering, according to Ram\u00f3n P\u00e9rez de Ayala of the WWF. Often, it involves the far-right Vox party, which claims to champion the rights of farmers.<\/p>\n

In Arag\u00f3n, opposition to the lynx programme was led by the then agriculture minister, \u00c1ngel Samper, a member of Vox. Samper claimed the wildcats were attacking sheep. P\u00e9rez de Ayala, Spain\u2019s leading expert on the lynx, says attacks on livestock are practically nonexistent.<\/p>\n

Jorge Valero, the head of the Arag\u00f3n government\u2019s hunting and fishing department, also of Vox, opposed the reintroduction of the lynx, saying: \u201cIt\u2019s wrong to bring them back just because they were here 20 or 100 years ago. It makes us look like Jurassic Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vox split from the Arag\u00f3n government last summer amid claims that Valero and another minister were apologists for the former dictator Francisco Franco.<\/p>\n

\"Iberian
Iberian lynx have been released into the wild as part of conservation efforts by the Spanish government. Photograph: Jorge Guerrero\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But it is not only there that Spain\u2019s native wildcat is under pressure. Last month the Catalan government agreed to demands by the farmers\u2019 association Revolta Pagesa (Peasants\u2019 Revolt) to block the introduction of wolves, bears and lynx, despite a surfeit of rabbits in much of the region. P\u00e9rez de Ayala says rabbits make up 90% of the lynx\u2019s diet.<\/p>\n

The plan was to release lynx into the south-western areas of Noguera and Garrigues, where there has been an explosion in the rabbit population. However, the Catalan government has acceded to the farmers\u2019 preferred option of culling the rabbits with aluminium phosphide.<\/p>\n

Although the lynx has been welcomed in much of Castilla y Le\u00f3n in Spain\u2019s north-west, local authorities around Zamora and the Douro River are less enthusiastic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hunters don\u2019t want them, nor do the farmers,\u201d said Jos\u00e9 Mart\u00edn, the mayor of Almaraz de Duero, from the conservative People\u2019s party. \u201cThey say they will attract more tourism but it\u2019s not worth it for the impact it has on our way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

P\u00e9rez de Ayala said the lynx was often being caught up in unrelated arguments. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s because the local authority is trying to put pressure on the government for something that has nothing to do with the lynx or because of political infighting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Much of the opposition comes from the hunting lobby, he added, echoing a post on X on Monday by Hugo Mor\u00e1n Fern\u00e1ndez, Spain\u2019s secretary of state for the environment. He said: \u201cThe problem arising from the extermination of certain species is that there will be no one left to blame for the decline of hunting or livestock farming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty-five years ago the Iberian lynx (lynx pardinus) was close to extinction, having been classified, along with wolves, as vermin. After the efforts of a coalition including the EU and regional and national governments in Spain and Portugal, as well as wildlife NGOs and local people, its status was downgraded last year from \u201cendangered\u201d to \u201cvulnerable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last week Sara Aagesen, the environment minister, oversaw the release of two female lynx in Murcia in southeast Spain, bringing the total in the region to 20.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> by Stephen Burgen was first published by The Guardian on 3 March 2025. Lead Image: Lynx pardinus was close to extinction before conservation efforts led its status to be upgraded from \u2018endangered\u2019 to \u2018vulnerable\u2019. Photograph: StockPhotoAstur\/Alamy.<\/i><\/p>\n

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