The Iberian lynx, once on the brink of extinction with fewer than 50 mature animals left in the wild two decades ago, has become a global conservation success story, with wild populations now surpassing 2,000 across Spain and Portugal. Once devastated by habitat loss, hunting and a sharp decline in the number of rabbits (the lynx’s primary prey), it faced near-total extinction by the early 2000s. Europe’s LIFE LynxConnect project has aided the species’ recovery by enhancing genetic diversity, increasing population size and expanding the lynx’s range. adapted with permission from Earthweek.com<div></div><br>