While the perilous plight of Asia's tigers is
widely known, the threats facing Europe's own top predators has
received much less publicity. The Iberian lynx of Spain and
Portugal, the world's most endangered cat species, faces imminent
extinction, while wolves face a hostile reception where they return
to parts of western Europe that eradicated them a century ago.
Whether or not they can survive there rests entirely in human
hands.
Habitat destruction and the loss of prey species
have contributed to the decline of large carnivores in Europe.
Today they occupy fragmented landscapes, dominated by humans. The
Iberian lynx is now confined to about 10 isolated pockets of Spain
and Portugal where the world population has slumped to less than
800.
