IBERIAN LYNX  
Lynx pardinus

The Iberian Lynx Lynx pardinus, sometimes referred to as the Spanish Lynx, is a critically endangered feline mammal native to the Iberian Peninsula in Southern Europe. The species was previously misclassified as a subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx), but is now considered a separate species. Both species occurred together in central Europe in the Pleistocene epoch, being separated by habitat choice. The Iberian Lynx is believed to have evolved from Lynx issiodorensis.

The Iberian Lynx is a critically endangered species; it is also the world's most threatened species of cat, and the most threatened carnivore in Europe. The Iberian Lynx and its remaining habitat are fully protected and are no longer legally hunted. The number of surviving Iberian Lynx were estimated to be down to fewer than 100 in 2005, only one quarter of the population in 2000. If the Iberian Lynx were to become extinct, it would be the first big cat species to do so since the extinction of the Smilodon (the Sabre-Toothed Tiger or Sabre-Toothed Cat). The only breeding populations of this lynx are in Spain, at the Doñana National Park and in the Sierra de Andújar, Jaén.

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