According to the Iberian census, cited by the ministry in a statement to mark World Environment Day, the Iberian lynx population reached its highest level in 2025 since the start of coordinated monitoring between Portugal and Spain.

Highest number ever

This number represents an increase of 10.9% over the previous year, when 2,401 individuals were recorded, and about 95% over 2021, when the total population was 1,365 pumas.

In Portugal, 394 animals were recorded in 2025, of which 265 were adults or subadults, and 129 were cubs born that year.

The 2025 census also recorded 542 breeding females across the Iberian Peninsula, 72 more than the previous year, and 952 cubs born. The presence of the Iberian lynx was confirmed in 26 distinct geographical areas of the Iberian Peninsula, with reproduction in 18 of these nuclei.

"When compared to the numbers from 2002, the year in which there were fewer than 100 jaguars in the wild, the current data demonstrate an unprecedented recovery of a species that was on the verge of extinction," highlighted the Ministry of Environment and Energy in the statement.

Success stories

In the statement, Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho said that "the recovery of the Iberian lynx is one of the greatest success stories of nature conservation in Europe."

"These results demonstrate that it is possible to reverse biodiversity loss processes when there is scientific knowledge, political commitment, international cooperation and involvement of local communities," he stressed.

The statement comes a week after the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) backtracked on its decision to remove the technical team responsible for the National Iberian Lynx Reproduction Centre (CNRLI), which has been in place since the centre's founding 16 years ago.

The ICNF announced three weeks ago that it would assume direct management of the Iberian Lynx reproduction centre from 1 June, a decision that generated political and scientific controversy, complaints from Spain, and was eventually reversed.