One of the rarest cat species in the world, the Iberian lynx, is no longer in the group of endangered animals, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced.
The organization classifies species according to the level of risk that threatens them.
The Iberian lynx has moved from the endangered to the vulnerable category on the "red list", as their number has increased significantly.
The population of Iberian lynx increased almost 2001 times from 2022 to 10.
The IUCN writes that there are now more than 2.000 young and mature lynx.
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This type of cat got its name from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) where it is mostly found.
According to the last census, 13 clusters were in Portugal and one in Spain.
The wild cat used to be common throughout the Iberian Peninsula, but since the 1960s the number of individuals has been decreasing.
Habitat loss, poaching and traffic accidents have contributed to the species being brought to the brink of extinction.
That is changing now.
Efforts to preserve its main source of food - the wild rabbit, also known as European, another of the more endangered species, played a major role in increasing the population of this species.
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Programs for the release of hundreds of captive lynxes, as well as the restoration of thickets and forests, have also contributed to ensuring that these wild cats are no longer endangered.
Francisco Javier Salcedo Ortiz, coordinator of the program for their conservation, said that this is "the greatest recovery of a cat species that has ever been achieved in this way".
He added that there is still "a lot of work to do to ensure that the animals survive and recover".
"There are plans to reintroduce the Iberian lynx to new places in central and northern Spain in the future," he said.
According to the IUCN, the area these wild cats inhabit is now significantly larger: from 449 kilometers in 2005 to 3.200 kilometers today.
But this organization warns that the situation can change.
The biggest threats are diseases of wild cats and rabbits, which the Iberian lynx feeds on, but also poaching and traffic accidents.
The IUCN Red List, established in 1964, could become the world's most comprehensive source of information on the global conservation status of animals, fungi and plants.
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