Hemorrhagic Disease Virus RHDV Threatens The Iberian Lynx

The Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) is a critically endangered creature that inhabits parts of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe.

These days, the animal faces an even greater threat due to the effects of a new variant of the hemorrhagic disease RHDV on wild rabbits in the area. The rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is also considered a key multifunctional species of Iberian Mediterranean ecosystems that's given numerous species benefit from its presence.

"Any decline in wild rabbit populations, including that caused by diseases, poses a serious problem for the Iberian lynx," the researchers emphasized, in a news release. "This feline is somewhat of a rabbit specialist and needs a certain abundance of its main prey to be able to establish its territories and reproduce,."

The variant has been identified throughout the entire Iberian Peninsula, including areas where the Iberian lynx lives, such as the Sierra Morena mountains.

"Very little is still known about this new variant, so it is difficult to say whether it is more serious than the previous one. Nevertheless, a significant difference is that it affects very young individuals, ten or eleven days old, which was not happening before," added Miguel Delibes-Mateos, co-author of the study by the Hunting Resources Research Institute (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM) to SINC.

This could harm the rounding of young individuals and put their dynamics at risk, according to researchers. As it stands, there is no study that specifically evaluates the mortality rate of wild rabbits in the countryside.

"The abundance of rabbit populations in some areas of Aragón and Doñana National Park decreased on average in 2013 by between 70% and 80% compared to the levels of the previous year," said Delibes-Mateos.

However, researchers have linked decreases in the abundance of rabbits that accompany a notable drop in the number if Iberian lynx cubs born in the wild between 2012 (78 cubs) and 2013 (54 cubs), according to data from the Regional Government of Andalusia and the ‘Life-Lince' Project.

"In our study we present the data on two rabbit monitoring programmes in Aragón and Doñana. In both cases a marked decline was observed in the abundance of rabbits (70%-80%) after the appearance of this new variant of the hemorrhagic disease virus," he concluded. "It seems logical to think that there is a link between this new variant and the recent decline in rabbits, although more detailed analyses are needed."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Emerging Infectious Disease.

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).