Spain has implemented a new traffic light system to help the endangered Iberian lynx safely cross busy streets. Each year approximately 40 Iberian lynx are killed in traffic accidents. It is the main cause of death for Spain’s lynx population.
The new system uses infrared sensors and thermographic cameras to track the animal’s body heat and convert it into a electronic signal that warns drivers to slow down when a lynx is nearing the read.
The same traffic light program has been used in Greece, Italy and Romania to prevent road accidents involving brown bears.
The Iberian lynx once inhabited areas throughout the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. There were only 15 wild lynx populations in the 1940s. By the 1990s, only 2 subpopulations remained.
In 2002, the Iberian lynx was classified as “Critically Endangered” with less that 100 wild lynx in existence. Successful conservation efforts have increased the wild lynx population to over 1000 cats. However it is still considered Endangered.
The Iberian lynx is a small wild cat. Its closest relative is the Eurasion lynx. Iberian lynx prey consists mostly of rabbit and partridge, rodents and occasionally ungulates (hoofed mammals) like deer.
In addition to the new traffic light program, Iberian lynx conservation efforts include maintaining the region’s wild rabbit population, restoring habitat and releasing captive bred cats into the wild,
Read more about the Iberian lynx and LIFE Lynx project.
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