1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,460 Beware, species in danger. 2 00:00:12,460 --> 00:00:14,700 This species is the Iberian lynx. 3 00:00:14,700 --> 00:00:19,040 As its name suggests, it's to be found only on the Iberian Peninsula. 4 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,440 If nothing is done soon, these pictures will be the last testimony to its existence on 5 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,120 our planet. 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:30,440 In the 19th century, the Iberian lynx was to be found all over the peninsula, and even 7 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,240 in the south of France. 8 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:37,320 But by the 1960s, the lynx's territory was much more restricted, and the entire population 9 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,280 was estimated at about 3,000. 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,720 Thirty years later, in 1990, it was less than half that. 11 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:49,960 Today, only 150 lynx survive. 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,400 The situation could not be more critical. 13 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,560 The Iberian lynx, filmed here in the Dunjana National Park, is on the danger list of the 14 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:58,800 world's most threatened species. 15 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:03,080 The Iberian lynx has stronger markings and is smaller than the Eurasian lynx. 16 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,440 It's become a symbol of the danger European wildlife faces, and its preservation is a 17 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:08,440 major challenge. 18 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:13,520 First, I would like to say that it is really a kind of embarrassment to Europe that one 19 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:19,880 of these big cats is threatened, and it's a big cat in Europe. 20 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:25,600 It is not in some distant place like India or Africa, but it's here, and we ought to 21 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:31,000 be able to protect better a big cat like the Iberian lynx. 22 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,480 The European Commission is trying to save the lynx through its Life Nature Program. 23 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:40,680 It has a long track record in fighting for the preservation of endangered species. 24 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:47,920 Since 1992, the Commission has invested a total of 9 million euro and financed 10 projects. 25 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:53,120 Protecting the Iberian lynx means, above all, preserving biodiversity, and that's important 26 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,200 for human beings in many ways. 27 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:04,800 The European Commissioner underlined this point during a recent official visit to Spain. 28 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,120 I mean, maybe the environmental reasons are the most obvious ones. 29 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,200 We are part of an ecosystem. 30 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:16,120 We need nature, and we have to protect nature and the different species and habitats. 31 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:22,000 It's important economically, because people are also dependent on what nature gives, food, 32 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:29,000 medicines, all of that, but also for emotional and ethical reasons, because nature gives 33 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,920 us inspiration, and what would art be without nature? 34 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:40,600 And for ethical reasons, we don't have the right to make different species extinct. 35 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,440 We're in southern Andalusia at the Doñana National Park. 36 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:52,520 Here, biodiversity is an everyday preoccupation, and saving the lynx a top priority. 37 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:57,720 The Doñana Park is one of the last areas in Spain where the Iberian lynx still survives. 38 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:01,800 The lynx population here is estimated at between 40 and 50. 39 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,800 For the park authorities, that's simply not enough. 40 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:09,720 They say being so few in number makes the lynx more vulnerable. 41 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:15,600 Any unfortunate phenomenon can affect the population, for example, a disease, a runaway, 42 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:20,120 the loss of two females for any reason, I don't know, a matter of furtivism, or fights 43 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:21,880 between the females themselves. 44 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:27,440 Any strange phenomenon over such a small number can end the population. 45 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:35,440 One possible solution to increase the lynx population is to breed them in captivity. 46 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,840 This is the El Acebuche Breeding Center in the middle of the park. 47 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:44,360 It's 1 p.m. and lunchtime for the four females in the breeding program. 48 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:46,840 The procedure for feeding is quite complex. 49 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:51,480 The lynx must avoid coming into direct contact with humans. 50 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,840 The females have spent their entire lives in captivity, and now three of them are of 51 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,800 breeding age. 52 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,360 And this will be the first time they've been mated. 53 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:02,840 The time is ripe as they're on heat. 54 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,200 The scientists running the project are hopeful, but also anxious. 55 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,240 It's the first attempt to breed the Iberian lynx in captivity. 56 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,600 Garfio, the male, is quarantined well away from the females. 57 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:41,640 He was captured in the Sierra Morena, the other region of Spain which still has a hundred 58 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:42,640 or so lynx. 59 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:44,840 He'll soon be put with the females. 60 00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:19,280 Replenishing the lynx population is certainly important, but the rest of the lynx population 61 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:23,960 still living in the Doñana National Park must also be maintained. 62 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:30,160 Maintained and, over the long term, made to prosper through a program to restore its habitat. 63 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:35,200 In the Doñana Park, the Iberian lynx is used to the bush, unlike its cousin, the Eurasian 64 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,720 lynx, which lives in the forest. 65 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,560 The park has protected the Iberian lynx from the main causes of its decimation elsewhere, 66 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:48,360 such as deforestation, fires, intensive farming, and major infrastructure work. 67 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:52,680 Nevertheless, there's one problem in the park, a lack of rabbits. 68 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,560 A problem because the rabbit is the lynx's favourite prey. 69 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:22,280 So, in brief, the more rabbits there are, the more lynx there will be. 70 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:28,960 Now everything must be done to increase the rabbit population. 71 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:34,320 The park is getting there, producing 2,500 new rabbits every year, by restoring their 72 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:36,920 habitat through improvements to the vegetation. 73 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:05,520 In this way, the rabbits can take refuge in the untouched bush on the left of this enclosure 74 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:10,640 and find their food in the treated zone in front of us. 75 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,800 The authorities at the Doñana National Park have also taken a close look at the eucalyptus 76 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:16,360 problem. 77 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,800 The eucalyptus was introduced by man to the park in the 1950s. 78 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:25,840 It spreads across 1,500 hectares and consumes an enormous amount of water, which affects 79 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,080 the water table and alters the levels in the lagoons. 80 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:34,560 Today, 90% of the trees have been uprooted and water has now returned to strategic areas 81 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,880 for the rabbits and the lynx. 82 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,680 In Doñana, this determination to save the Iberian lynx is an example of how Europe intends 83 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,400 to preserve its biodiversity. 84 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,320 The lynx is not the only species in danger. 85 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,920 Around 60 other European species are in a situation just as precarious. 86 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,720 In the longer term, there are as many as 900 species which are threatened with extinction. 87 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,240 It means there's not a moment to lose. 88 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:06,400 Personally, I think about my boys, my own boys, and hopefully I will have grandchildren 89 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:07,400 also one day. 90 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,720 And I hope that I will not have to say to them that I was the last generation that could 91 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:18,720 see the Iberian lynx or any other birds or species in Europe. 92 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:25,200 I hope that we will be able to protect it because we have a responsibility. 93 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,040 The hope of maintaining this biodiversity is a very real one. 94 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,880 Doñana is a magnificent 50,000 hectare sanctuary. 95 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:36,760 And all the work being done here to restore the original habitat has an effect on other 96 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:38,600 species. 97 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:43,520 Species such as the glossy ibis, which completely disappeared from the park in the 1950s and 98 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:47,480 has made a remarkable return over the last three years. 99 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:49,480 The numbers speak for themselves. 100 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,600 There were only seven nests in 1996. 101 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:54,960 Last year, there were a thousand. 102 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,920 Proof that efforts to preserve biodiversity in Europe really can make a difference.