Iberian lynx rebounds from brink of extinction, hailed as the "greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved"

Things are looking up for the Iberian lynx. Just over two decades ago, the pointy-eared wild cat was on the brink of extinction, but as of Thursday the International Union for Conservation of Nature says it's no longer an endangered species.

Successful conservation efforts mean that the animal, native to Spain and Portugal, is now barely a vulnerable species, according to the latest version of the IUCN Red List.

In 2001, there were only 62 mature Iberian lynx - medium-sized, mottled brown cats with characteristic pointed ears and a pair of beard-like tufts of facial hair - on the Iberian Peninsula. The species' disappearance was closely linked to that of its main prey, the European rabbit, as well as habitat degradation and human activity.