The animal has been reclassified by the IUCN, which is based in Gland, Switzerland, as "in danger", one notch lower, the joint Spanish-Portuguese 'Life-Iberlince' programme - which since 2011 has worked to restore the species’ historic distribution in Iberia - said in a statement.


The removal of the lynx from the red list came as part of an assessment of the 77,340 species that formed part of it. The lynx was studied by two scientists who concluded that, after six decades of decline, there was a steady increase in its population between 2002 and 2012.


During that period, the number of reproductive females swelled to 97 from just 27. The whole population of mature individuals reached 156.


The area over which the species is present also grew considerably during the period.


These developments are described by the IUCN as "an excellent proof that conservation actions really work". It stressed, however, that much more work needs to be done in order to ensure the species’ future population growth.


Nineteen different institutions are involved in the lynx recovery project, which began with the reintroduction in Portugal and Spain of wild lynx and individuals bred in captivity. A total of 43 were released last year.