Iberian cat fight
I have just learned that the European Commission is going to take action aimed at protecting one of the world's rarest big cats, the Iberian lynx, but the move may enrage locals in southern Spain.
The EU already gives a lot of money to protect the animal. This morning, I was looking at lynx cubs who were part of a breeding programme at the . I was watching through a video monitoring system. Outsiders are not allowed into the enclosures because of the risk of disease to the lynx.
There are 20 of them in the breeding programme, on the edge of the park, and only an estimated 150 left in the wild. They are very cute, their faces like an optical illusions that seems to morph between a domestic cat and a tiger.
The cubs are frolicking around and biting each other. But environmentalists say this already rare animal is under threat because of a road built by the .
The Villamanrique road was a simple forest track, but was upgraded to a fast tarmac road. Now the European Commission has decided to take the regional government ot the . The court is almost certain to rule that the road should be torn up. That will delight environmentalists but dismay many who live here.
Read my full report on the efforts to protect the Iberian lynx, and the associated problems created by EU-funded intensive farming, here.
I’m Mark Mardell, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
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Here in Portugal they are already extinct, and we only have a couple or two if I'm not mistaken in captivity.
I'm sure people in southern Spain will understand why the road couldn't be there.
It would have been nice if Mark had
done something about letting us know
how big these cats are. I'd love to
know for they look smaller than the
lynx I know in fact could be no
bigger than a domestic cat!
Take care.
I think in the US such a project would have required filing and approval of an environmental impact statement with the EPA before it would have been allowed to proceed. There might also have been public hearings. The solution which would have satisfied both environmentalists and those who clearly need the road would likely have been to have the roadway elevated along part or all of its length (at considerable addional cost.) This would have facilitated both increased vehicular traffic while having minimal impact on the safety of the cats who would not be at risk of being hit. Endless layers of bureaucracy within the EU, no clear chain of procedure or authority and there will surely be many more such incidents. It is a sign of bad governance. A poorly conceived system executed to the advantage of no one. Now the roadway will have to be replaced making investment so far worthless or the cats will risk extinction.
I hope this beautifull animal does not die away like so many others have done unnoticed in western Europe. Like the arctic row, once again this only shows the unlimited human greed and arrogance. You say 'this will anger people in the south of Spain'. Well, I am spanish and I can tell you ANY ecological measure will ALLWAYS anger people. Look how we have the coast now. And, by the way, normally this 'angry' people are not 'poor farmers' but enriched speculators and promotors eager to grab yet another area of wildlife and natural beauty for engrosing their benefits. The point is, how far is too far? Until we don't have any wildlife left because of a holy 'economic' success? And I can tell you, a big chunck of Spain is already rocky desert.
At least everyone in the EU seems to be treated equally in this regard... Poland and Spain. A better question is how much support for the EU will remain if this kind of assertion of EU influence continues... I am not saying it is bad, but can definitely step on other peoples' toes.
Remaining on the environment issue, perhaps we could cover another controversial topic. Nuclear power in Europe, and its feasibility in addressing Global Warming and energy security. Perhaps a separate article.
Due to the danger of extintion, Iberian Lynx rights are in this case above of those of local people. Fortunately we are in the EU that can guarantee the rights of the weakest beings. This move from the EU suing the local government of Andalucia makes us proud to belong to the club.
If only we devoted the same energy to holding the United States to account for its grossly negligent behaviour over global warming.
Have you asked the locals about the inconvenience they would suffer ? That track must have existed for ages and the road only built recently
What the Iberian Lynx needs is peace and quite and lots and lots of rabbits to eat. Perhaps introducing then into Australia could be good for both lynx and the Australian farmers. Perhaps it would make some amends for the introduction of the European rabbit down under.
Fantastic. It's about time global powers acted more resolutely regarding the environment and wildlife. Those upset by the loss of the road will learn to live without it.
Isn't there a possibility that the locals' reaction to this might be to eliminate the lynx once and for all? Once they got rid of it, there would be no more need to not build their road.
This is good news. Perhaps more notice should be taken of EU attempts to preserve local cultural and physical environments.
To anybody living outside the comfortable, protected zone of western Europe it must be obvious that "global free trade" means global re-feudalisation by international companies in support of American strategic interests.
Without poerful (institutional) bodies to protect them -less powerful countries simply don't have a snowball's chance in hell of resisting American demands for the destruction of the local way of life so that large scale commercialism can take over.
As the diversity of local cultural and physical ecologies become increasingly depleated, by external mono-cultural exploitation (including transport infrastructures) local unsustainabilities require an increase in outside help. These imported goods and services are paid for by increased mono-cultural development -and so the cycle of destruction and dependency increases.
It is surely time that people stopped bickering over stupid psuedo-issues such as "nanny state_called_Europe" and thought hard about exactly what kind of world they wish to live in (and how this can be realistically achieved and maintained) -before it all disappears in the name of economic and social development.
Why is commercial communism (corporate action) concidered desiresble while social communalism is seen as evil? I'm sure there are probably more practical examples of the evil face of corporatism around than the evil face of social communalism. So why don't the customers have a real choice any more?
Amazing how anti-americans manage to link every subject with their pet bete noir. Do grow up.
I agree with post no 13 - for once get off the anti American high horse, there are enough USA subjects to criticise without involving Andalucia. I live here, this is a domestic problem for the Spanish people and we will sort it out amicably ( as usual). If you want to use this blog for anti USA rubbish, find another topic. These are beautiful animals and nothing to do with American or anti American issues.
* 13.
* At 09:46 AM on 07 Sep 2007,
* Max Sceptic wrote:
Amazing how anti-americans manage to link every subject with their pet bete noir. Do grow up.
Well, it may sound childish to you -but then you probably are not living in a place where the less positive affects of the system are directly visible:
Presumably, your air is not so polluted that you must rush into air-conditioned buildings in order to breath. Perhaps you have efficient health insurance to help you survive the effects of poor diet and environment. Presumably, you and your friends can afford to send your kids to school, can feed them well and provide clothes for them.
Where I live, school buildings are falling apart, there are huge numbers of kids to each classroom, Health provision is minimal, and many hospital services are understaffed. In the meantime the government has an organized system for exporting valuable skilled people to rich first world countries.Remittances from exported labour are the mainstay of the economy -which seems deeply mired in corruption and kickbacks on all government projects (official pork barrel politics).
If I go to the supermarket (which has removed all almost other alternatives from the area) then I can hardly think due to deafening music and American voices telling me shopping is fun and I should buy the latest chemical food supplements to feed my kids. Even the "French Baker" has an American voice telling me why I should buy their products. Watching TV is mental torture -with advertisements for useless products interpersing mindbogglingly stupid American programmes which promote cosmetic surgery, the triumph of the will, and a trivial lifestyle approach to daily life. Outside are billboards (larger than the surrounding buildings) advertising western style consumer products. During the typhoon season they must be removed as previously several people have been killed by them.
At present, congress is gearing up for hearings which investigate the possible rigging of the last presidential elections -while American troops are supporting the government in their fight against local rebels (Communist or Islamic). There are reports that the armed forces have been involved in several dubious incidents and a newly elected senator is still in prison on mutiny charges filled before his election.
The American commercial and military presence seems to be inescapably linked to daily life here. The American economic system seems totally dominant -with direct consequences for government spending on essential social services. In the west, democracy is publically criticized in countries that do not support US interests -but rarely in countries that do.
Literally, the air we breath is produced by foreign air-conditioning machines -powered by foreign (often American) power companies with contracts that are beneficial to them but appear an economic burden to the country in which they operate. Somehow, every deal, every contact seems to benefit them and disadvantage us.
If these are childish remarks -then I apologize.
Of course the Lynx should be preserved.
In some places (around Brussels in particular) they appear to build bridges over the motorway which are specifically there for animals to cross. These are covered in greenery and quite wide. Perhaps this is something to look into in this case.
Aside from the fact that the Iberian Lynx absolutely must be saved, this road being demolished is both a good test to see if the EU mean what they say and to see if Spain's supposed green rhetoric is actually real.
Should the Iberian lynx be tragically killed by man (as were endemic bears in the Pyrenees not many years ago) then primarily the people of Spain, but of course all of us, should hang our heads in shame.
I have been trying to raise money for the Iberian lynx's conservation for years, and I can say that if they tear up that road I will be absolutely delighted, it'll be the best news I've heard in ages.
I live way further north than AndalucΓa, so I don't know what the local reaction will be like, but if they don't like it they can try and come up with their own solution to protect wildlife! We constantly take and take and take and take from nature, giving up a road is only a fraction of what we owe to nature.
Commenting on the article that Lynx
are only found in Andalucia I observed 5 Lynx running along along
an almond tree terrace below an isolated hotel in the Tramuntana
mountain range here in Mallorca in
2003. The surrounding vegetation is
dense and uninterrupted Pine. They
were adults, running in single file
with the gait of tigers, at dusk.
On their way to scavenge from the
Hotel dustbins I believe.
This site was only 15 kms from the
Palma city limits so I am sure other
populations must exist in remoter
parts of Mallorca. But land development here is undoubtedly making life harder for them.
Mark's article about this on the main site:
has a problem with the maths.
Firstly the audio shows the dropped stone only takes 3 seconds to hit water.
A dropped stone which takes 3 seconds to splash doesn't mean the well is 30m deep (the formula told to him by his guide is a common misconception). The well is actually around 45 metres deep, even more concerning.
(The simplified formula for calculating distance for an object dropped from stationary is
distance in metres = time in seconds squared multiplied by 5)
This ignores the time it takes for the sound wave to reach you, but as it travels at 330 metres per second, it won't affect the result by much (about a tenth of a second).
I really hope something is done about these illegal boreholes and the lynx is given a fighting chance. To the farmer who argued he needs resources, I'd argue that the area is well set up for olives, and that wouldn't need the resources that his growing of strawberries demands.
More needs to be done to help widlife like this -perhaps some of the people living nearby can be rehoused to give the Lynx a wider area to live in.
For comment 19. Dear Mr Ellwood, it would be a miracle to see a lynx in the wild in Mallorca! What you saw were probably just wild cats. Lynxes are only to be found in the area of DoΓ±ana National Park and in Sierra Morena, both in Andalusia.
When it comes to sizes, the weight of a male lynx is around 12 kilos and of a female of around 9 (compare that to the standard domestic cat that weights 4-5 kilos). An adult male is around half a meter tall (back) and 75 centimetres long (including a 15 cm tail) so, altogether, much bigger than your cat at home.
Hello,
I agree the 22th comment: by now, lynxes can be seen only in Andalucia.
It wouldn't be the first case that spices have survived in spite of its alleged extinction in a geographical area. More if we talk about such a shy and elusive animal:
-Maybe, only maybe , they have been recently seen in La Mancha (North Andalucia - South Castilla), not too far from DespeΓ±aperros but clearly out of the Sierra Morena area.
-Besides, a false news (political concerns) said that some traces were found in Madrid region (geographically, Madrid was always the North side of La Mancha). But for months it was investigated and considered as possible.
Although lynxes vanished off both areas quite recently I think we cannot be very optimistics about it. All efforts should focus on DoΓ±ana and Sierra Morena and try to expand these areas to the North later.
To think more positively I'd like to add that, little by little, rabbits are recovering their old abundance in Spain, after a lot of years of diseases. It could provide backing to lynx conservation as it seems that it is now happening with iberian wolves and some small carnivores.
What a magnificent pussy!
I think that the road should definately be demolished so that these beautiful animals can roam free and multiply without having lorries scaring them away.
It is unexplicable why in this day and age with species going exctinct rapidly, that the Spanish decide to build a road through a nature reserve.
How unjust.
Save the Lynx
Dear Mr Mardell,
I was very keen to read your article regarding the Iberian Lynx, however you make no mention of the new breeding centre that will soon be constructed in the Algarve, Portugal.
I myself am currently following the new project at the Herdade das Santinhas in Silves and have written several articles in The Resident newspaper.
Please view our website:
I am glad that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is taking an interest in such a rare and beautiful species and hope that the coverage that can be given about these conservation projects will make people more aware and tolerant towards them.
Kind regards.
Why do I get the uneasy feeling that what the EU says it's going to do might somehow get twisted into something different? There were supposed to be roundabouts built on this road to reduce speed but after someone tragically killed themselves by driving into the first one the local authorities painted roundabouts instead thus fulfilling their legal obligations. Apparently the paint job was funded by, you've guessed it, the EU.
If anyone wants background information on the Spanish Lynx it is available free, along with regular updates, by visiting the Virtual Zoo at [url]www.littlelemur.com [/url]. The same goes for four other endangered or threatened species: The Mediterranean Monk Seal; The "European" Brown Bear; The Wolverine; and The Ruffed Lemur.
I agree with comment 26 when he says he has an uneasy feeling that the lynx project may get twisted into somehting else.
Although i believe the captive breeding programmes will work, the DoΓ±ana Park in Andalucia appears to be having some success with its lynx population...the problems will arise when they decide where to free the new population (which will not be before 2015 at the earliest)...no one will want the poor creatures "in their back yard".
The EU and central government may well back these projects but natural parks take up a lot of land and cost a lot to maintain. Local government and populations will probably be against all of the land proposals when the lynx is finally ready to be released.
Also, for the project to be successful, a ban on rabbit hunting in the lynx habitat will have to be not only created but strictly inforced.
A solution to the constant battle between urban development, the over usage of resources and the conservation of nature and rare species may take a long while yet. Sadly humans seem to think that there is no room for anything else but them in the world.
re:22 and 23 comments, I don't know about Mallorca but there are 5 or 6 confirmed Lynx living in the Pyrenees mountains (as I do) spanning the border of France and Spain and I have a photo of one as proof, and as for comment 17, Factually it was "The POSSIBLE last breeding female indigenous Brown Bear" that was shot by a hunter (now thankfully serving some time for his deed) three years ago, that does leave some estimated 15 male and, young or old females around as well as the few Slovenian bears that have been introduced over last year and 1996/7. we now have an estimated population of 21 or so plus this years cubs. The problem, as always (I think the Lynx and European Brown Bear are very similar cases) is the education of the hostile locals, here in the Pyrenees, we have had enormous local protests, and if you happen to be a sheep farmer who has just lost his sheep to a bear then it's very hard to defend protection of the animal concerned, It's no good just saying the animals going to be extinct, they don't care, we have to educate them on where the animal fits into the local ecology, and present them with an understandable defence. Cuddly isn't good enough, not that either Bears or Lynx are!, but we have to, as in any changes, start with the young and then their parents, with a proper, intergrated, education of why the animals should not be eradicated, eg. as indeed was the case with the European Wolf, which although still not protected from Spanish hunters, has indeed fourished to the largest population in Europe! Oh and bye the way I agree wholeheartedly with all the comments that this is not the right place for dialogue about American politics, in fact please keep that in America, at least to the 89% of Americans without passports and no idea of the rest of the world!
I fully agree that the species should be protected, what beautiful animals they are. However, my comment is more directed to the EU beaurocratic system. They now plan to take the Andalucian local government to court over the issue, but I have a sneaky feeling that, it may have actually been the EU that put forward the money for the upgrade of the road in the first place, as this is common practice here in Spain. To sum up. they pay for the road, they pay to go to court and then they will undoubtedly pay for it to be dug up again. A waste of our money, don't you think?