"Although in general mongooses are opportunistic predators in Donana, in Coto del Rey they mainly consume rabbits (Palomares 1993). Rabbits represent between 33% and 87% of the biomass consumed by mongooses throughout the year."(298)

"The lynx basically feeds on sub-adult and adult rabbits (Delibes and Hiraldo 1981). Rabbits represent between 75% and 95% of the biomass consumed by Lynx throughout the year."(298-99)

"Using the most realistic density for each predator, we estimated (irrespective of rabbit size) that 393 rabbits per km2 per year were consumed when lynx were present and 2500 when lynx were absent (Table 2). That is, 6.4 times more rabbits were consumed when lynx were absent than when lynx were present."(300)

"For all possible combinations of predator densities, the growth rate of rabbit populations was lower when lynx were absent than when lynx were present (Table 3). After a year, densities of large rabbits in September- October (using the most realistic predator densities and fixing initial rabbit density at 15 ind/ha) were 16% lower in the absence of lynx than in their presence."(300)

"Rabbit densities were 2-4 times higher in sections used by lynx (I and III) than in sections not used by lynx (II and IV; Table 4)."(301)

"Pimm (1980) discussed the population effects following the loss of a top predator species in food webs, and Terborgh & Winter (1980) suggested that top predators have a disproportionate importance for conservation biology because their extinction can trigger a cascade of unexpected secondary extinctions as a consequence of the disruption of evolved predator-prey relationships."(303)

"Accumulating evidence of the positive effect of endangered top predators on populations of game species may ultimately be an important factor in the conservation of top predators because such evidence could change attitudes toward predator control."(304)