Included on CITES Appendix II and protected under the Bern Convention (Appendix III). Hunting for commercial purposes (other than sport hunting) is permitted only by Russia, according to a recent survey of 37 range states (Govt of US 2007). While China and Russia had annual commercial exports of thousands of skins in the 1970s and 1980s (Nowell and Jackson 1996), this trade has ended in recent years (UNEP-WCMC 2008). However, illegal skin trade remains the leading threat to the species, together with habitat loss and prey base depletion (Govt of US 2007). Since 2009, the Lynx is a legally protected species in Afghanistan, banning all hunting and trading of this species within the country. Detailed recommendations for conservation of European subpopulations are given in IUCN (2007).