THE world's most endangered big cat - the Iberian Lynx - is on the verge of extinction, according to a study commissioned by Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas published today.
As few as 135 Lynxes survive in their sole remaining habitats in Spain and Portugal, thanks to rampant development, in part funded by taxpayers' cash via EU regional support, according to the report by Portugal-based SOS Lynx.
"The Iberian Lynx is on the verge of being the first big cat to become extinct since the Sabre-Toothed Tiger," said Dr Lucas, South-East England's MEP, who commissioned the report as vice-president of the European Parliament's Animal Welfare and Conservation Inter-group.
"This crisis has been precipitated in part by the EU itself, whose economical and regional development policies are in flat contradiction of its conservational policies."