Spain: WWF Warns Iberian Lynx Close to Extinction
11/11/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: WWF Warns Iberian Lynx Close to Extinction
Source: Reuters
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 11, 1999
MADRID, Spain (Reuters) - The Iberian lynx is the world's most
endangered wildcat and may become extinct within a decade unless its
habitat is properly protected, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said
Thursday.
The Spanish government has earmarked areas totaling about 6,260
square miles as lynx sanctuaries.
But 95 percent of the remaining 500 to 600 specimens are dispersed in
groups across Spain's south and west and need at least 10,000 square
miles, including corridors to allow the groups to interbreed, said
WWF spokesman Miguel Valladares.
The other 5 percent of Iberian lynxes live in Portugal, he said.
Valladares criticized the government for not spending sufficient
European Union funds on protection for the fierce cats which prey
mainly on rabbits and which have suffered as new infrastructure
projects opened up in once remote areas.
``To build one kilometer (just over half a mile) of road costs around
400 million pesetas ($2.5 million), and that is how much the
government has spent on conserving the lynx over the last four
years,'' he said.