Why the European big cat population faces extinction

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

A European big cat population faces extinction, warns a new study.

Researchers estimate that there are now less than 150 adult lynxes in France, with levels of genetic diversity so low they could be locally extinct within 30 years.

They say that if action isn’t taken soon, the Eurasian lynx will vanish from France.

The elusive wild cat, which was reintroduced to Switzerland in the 1970s, moved across the French border by the end of the decade.

But a new genetic study published in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science has shown that the lynx population in France is in "desperate" need of help to survive.

Corresponding author Nathan Huvier, a wildlife biologist at Centre Athenas, said: “Given the rapid loss of genetic diversity, we estimate that this population will go extinct in less than 30 years.

“This population urgently needs new genetic material to become sustainable.”

The lynxes live deep within the Jura Mountains. Observations by scientists estimate it consists of a maximum of 150 adults and suggest that it is poorly connected to larger, healthier populations in Germany and Switzerland and is not growing to a sustainable size.

Researchers believe that a combination of poaching, car accidents, and inbreeding depression — where insufficient genetic diversity leads to problems with reproduction and survival — have suppressed its growth.

Huvier said: “As there is a lack of genetic monitoring of the lynx in France and we consider that crucial for species conservation, we took the lead and did this work."

The team collected genetic samples between 2008 and 2020 with the goal of determining the genetic health of the population.

Samples were taken when attending to lynxes that were already injured or dead or orphaned cubs, to avoid stressing healthy animals.

Huvier said: “For us, this method is more ethical as there is no capture and thus stress induced for DNA sampling only."

The team managed to secure a total of 88 samples, more than half the estimated population.

The samples were compared to references derived from the parent population from the Carpathian Mountains.

Researchers determined that although the size of the French population of lynxes is thought to be between 120 and 150 individuals, the effective population size - the estimated number of healthy breeding individuals needed to display the level of genetic diversity — is only about 38 individuals.

The researchers cautioned that this is likely to be an overestimate, so the number may be even lower.

Even more alarmingly, the inbreeding coefficient - a measure of how likely it is that two mating individuals from the same population are closely related - is extremely high.

Huvier said there is a 41 percent chance that an individual’s two copies of an allele at any given locus in their genome were inherited from a common ancestor of both their parents.

New genetic material is urgently needed, or the population will collapse.

The researchers acknowledged that introducing more lynxes is politically difficult.

They suggested that road signs raising awareness of the presence of the cats, and stricter enforcement of the law where poaching is proven, would help protect the remaining population.

Huvier says replacing poached lynxes with animals from genetically healthier populations and the exchange of orphaned cubs between wildlife rescue centers would help rescue the population from genetic collapse.

He added: “We want this work to support action for lynx conservation.

“Reintroduction, replacement of poached lynxes, and exchange of orphan lynxes between care centers are the best short-term solution for this population to remain alive, and it will give it a chance to develop and connect with other populations in Europe.”