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MADRID - Numbers of the endangered Iberian lynx are increasing for the first time after decades of decline.
Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said yesterday that Spain aimed eventually "to fix a timetable to remove the lynx from its status as a species under threat of extinction".
Speaking in Seville, where Spain and Portugal signed an Iberian lynx pact to implement protective measures, she promised Madrid would contribute €7 million ($13 million) over four years to support the lynx, in addition to €26 million pledged by the EU.
Two years ago, scarcely 150 lynxes survived in two small colonies in Andalusia. But there are now up to 250 in two colonies in the region. This year 44 cubs were born.
- Independent
