- HB Length: 76-106 cm (30-42″)
- Tail Length: 10-15 cm (4-6″)
- Height: 60-65 cm (24-26″)
- Weight: 8-12 kg (17-26 pounds)
- Pop. Trend: Stable
Canada Lynx Lynx canadensis are the most common and widespread feline in Canada. They are easily recognizable cats with their black ear tufts, flared facial ruff, and very short tail. They can only be confused with the closely related Bobcat Lynx rufus in the southern part of their range. A closer look, however, reveals a number of differences. The Lynx has longer legs and broader footpads for walking in deep snow. Their ear tufts are longer, and the facial ruff is more developed. Their tail has a black tip, while the Bobcat’s is more striped and white underneath. These two cat species seem to have divided the continent up between them, with the Bobcat being limited by snow depth to southern Canada through to Central Mexico, and the Canada Lynx in the northern forests.
The usual background colour of the fur is a silvery grey or grey brown, but can vary to yellowish‑grey and rusty or reddish‑brown. The fur is usually white tipped, giving the animal a frosted appearance. Their thick, soft pelt can be variably marked with more or less distinct dark spots, and sometimes small stripes. A rare pallid colour phase suggesting partial albinism is known as the ‘Blue Lynx’. There is a distinct ruff of long hairs framing the face; the ears are large and pointed with irises of a yellow brown to a light yellowish‑green. The legs are long, with the rear limbs longer than the front ones, giving the body a tilted forward or slightly stooped appearance. The footpads are broad and well furred, and the tail is very short and black tipped.
The ears have long, erect tufts of dark hairs, and black backsides towards the tip. These tufts are just as sensitive as their whiskers, and the slightest breath of wind can be detected by the cat.
Distribution
Canada Lynx live mainly in boreal forests or in mixed deciduous/boreal woodlands, but can live in farmlands if they are interspersed with wooded areas. They favour forests with dense undercover vegetation such as thickets and deadfalls, with marshy areas and rocky outcrops.
Their total range in North America is 7.7 million km2, and their historic range is largely intact, although it has shrunk in the south due to human settlement and forest clearance.
Their range follows that of their main prey species, the snowshoe hare. The Canada Lynx is the only known felid to undergo prey-driven cyclic population declines. Densities peak at 17-45/100 km2, falling to 2-3/100 km2 during the low cycle.
Lynx have been recorded travelling long distances, up to 1,200 km, seeking out patches of hare abundance. A study in the Yukon found home ranges increased from 13.2 km2 to 39 km2 when the hare population was low. Several cats abandoned their home ranges during this period, and many dispersed 250 km or more.
Ecology
Over two hundred years of records from the Hudson’s Bay fur company show that the Lynx population fluctuates in an eight to 11 year cycle, in response to fluctuations in the numbers of the snowshoe hare. Hares breed profusely through several summers when food is plentiful, and may reach 1,800/km2 at the peak of the cycle. Overpopulation means they eventually wipe out their food supply and their numbers plummet. Lynx populations follow the hare cycle with a lag of one or two years.
Lynx favour mid-sized prey in order to compensate for the immense amount of energy expended to catch it. Other prey species may be taken opportunistically, or when hare numbers are low. It takes 50 voles to equal the food energy from one snowshoe hare, however, and the voles live beneath the snow cover in the winter. Hares are active year round.
Carnivore populations are increasingly confined to reserves surrounded by human developments. The boundaries of these ecological islands are risky because of habitat loss and human-carnivore conflict. However, a five-winter study in Riding Mountain National Park, Canada found the highest relative probability of lynx occurrence was along the southeast border of the park in close proximity to a human community and a lake used for winter recreational use such as snowmobiling and skiing. Researchers attributed this to a 25 year old fire which has since created successional habitat highly suitable for the snowshoe hare. Their results suggest Canada Lynx occurrence is associated with habitat that is highly suitable for their primary prey, even if that habitat is located near humans.
Lynx are mainly terrestrial and nocturnal, although they may also hunt during the day if prey is scarce. Lynx are thought to hunt mainly by sight and hearing, relying on smell to a lesser extent. They usually stalk their prey to within a few bounds before pouncing, but they are also known to wait in ambush for hours.
Rivers are often thought to act as barriers to the movement of terrestrial mammals, limiting dispersal and gene flow. In 2011, researchers in Alaska observed two Canada Lynx repeatedly swim across a glacial-fed river in November. Lynx are also known to cross the St. Lawrence River and the Strait of Belle Isle in Canada when they are ice-covered in winter months. If lynx use ice-bridges to disburse in winter, climate warming could cause a reduction in the extent and longevity of this sea ice, isolating populations.
Although classed as solitary animals, researchers often see groups of paired females. Female kittens establish home ranges close to that of their mothers, and travel and hunt cooperatively.
Reproduction
Mating occurs in late winter to early spring in most areas (March ‑ April in Alaska, April ‑ May in Alberta). The female mates with only one male, and the receptive period can last from one to ten days. Mating usually takes place at night, and the males are especially vocal at this time. Dens can be made in hollow logs, at the base of trees, in rocky areas or in dense vegetation. One to six kittens are born after a gestation period of 63 ‑70 days. In years of low prey availability, females may not conceive at all, or may spontaneously abort in response to the body’s poor nutritional condition. Lynx kittens average 197 ‑211 grams at birth. Their eyes open between ten and 17 days, and they begin to walk at 24 ‑30 days. The kittens nurse for three to five months, but begin to eat some solid food at one month of age. The young remain with the adult female until the following winter mating season. Young lynx may remain together for some weeks or months after separating from the female, travelling and hunting cooperatively. Sexual maturity is reached around 23 months, although in periods of prey abundance, sexual maturity at ten months has been recorded. Captive Canada Lynx have lived up to 21 years, and life expectancy for wild animals has been recorded at 15 years.
Conservation
Throughout Alaska and most of Canada, the Lynx is managed for the fur trade. During the cyclic low in the 1980’s most areas reduced harvests. From 1980-1984 an average of 35,669 pelts were exported from Canada and Alaska. That number fell to 7,360 between 1986-1989. The population is considered stable in the northern portion of their range.
Canada Lynx are rare and protected where they occur in south-eastern Canada. They are classed as regionally endangered in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where researchers have reported fertile hybrids between Canada Lynx and the Bobcat. The primary threat to the cats in these areas is the expanding population of the eastern coyote.
Research has shown the southern range boundary of Lynx in central Canada has contracted northward by more than 175 km since the 1970’s, and that high winter temperatures, low snow depth, and low proportion of suitable habitat are strongly correlated with low genetic diversity.
Lynx distribution has contracted by 40% from its historical range, and hybridization with Bobcats is a potential threat along its southern limit. A continental scale assessment found that relevance of hybrids was low, but also found evidence that Lynx-Bobcat hybrids are able to breed. If the abundance of Canada Lynx at the southern edge of its distribution is low relative to Bobcats, gene mixing over several years could result in the loss of Lynx in those areas. If climate warming shifts the Bobcat population northward, the likelihood of hybridization could increase.
From 1999 onward, 204 Lynx from Canada and Alaska were relocated into the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado. This population has become well established, and researchers are reporting increasing numbers of kittens born each year.
In the United States, Canada Lynx were historically found in 25 states, but now just 111,730 km2 of critical Lynx habitat has been proposed for designation in Maine, Minnesota, Washington and the Rocky Mountains. The main threat to these cats in the USA is habitat fragmentation.
Compare the Canada Lynx to the Eurasian Lynx or North American Bobcat
Range map IUCN Red List (2008)
Updated 2016
Pat Bumstead
I suspect a Canadian lynx would eat a feral cat, not breed with it.
Mariana Griffith
Can a Canadian Linx breed a feral cat?
Pat Bumstead
what is your location?
Angela Dysart
My husband told me he saw a Lynx in our yard about 5:30am about 3 weeks ago. This afternoon I was sitting in the sun in the front of our home and it was walking just in the tree line watching me…we have several acres with some dense forest as well as a brook with several large rocks and caves, so a perfect habitat apparently for the Lynx. Beautiful yet a little scary at the same time as we have small American cocker spaniels…
Pat Bumstead
Canada lynx are limited to living in boreal forest with deep snow and not likely to make their way to New Mexico. However, there are some strange looking bobcats around the Mexico-US border – bigger, furrier, larger ruffed cats which may have made their way north.
There have been recorded lynx/bobcat hybrids along the Canada/US border in Maine and southern Ontario. The scientists are just calling them hybrids, but’Blynx’ should definitely be their name – love the word!
Dawn Driskill
I have seen a few Bobcats in this area but then about a week ago I saw a Bobcat following a Lynx. I didn’t recognize the Lynx at first so I began looking for information about mating behavior, etc… then I came across two photos, one was a Bobcat & the other a Lynx both sitting in the snow & I realized that that was what I had seen. I know that Lynx had been reintroduced just north of here in southern Colorado & a few had been killed in this area, hopefully mistaken identity. I saw a “Bobcat” 3 years ago with big feet but otherwise it was a typical looking Bobcat, so maybe we are getting Blynx in northern New Mexico.
Pat Bumstead
At that location it could have been either a lynx or a bobcat. If you manage to get a photo send it along to us at smallwildcats [at] gmail.com and we’ll attempt to ID it. Always a challenge with those two cats!
Lori Stephenson
I am pleased to say I have had the pleasure of seeing a linx, possibly 2 this winter . I reside in Ontario close to Gananoque. This wonderful creature has been walking close by numerous times the past week.
Pat Bumstead
I really wish I could tell you about the hare cycle in your area but unfortunately I cannot. Although there are many scientific papers about this relationship, it is very difficult to locate any information which mentions specific years. Most of these studies were in the Yukon, so is the cycle the same in Quebec as it is in the Yukon? We don’t know, but are researching to find out more.
Art McLean
We live near St. Pierre-de-Wakefield in Val des Monts, Qc. (J8N 1E2) About 8 a.m. today from a west facing window we saw a large cat at about a distance of 9 meters. Its coat appeared as quite a striking cream colour. It sat briefly dog-like on a large rock surveying,I guess,one of our bird feeders before moving off into the underbrush. Your very helpful website leads me to conclude that our visitor was a lynx. Are you able to tell me where in the snowshoe hare cycle are we in my region of the country? Thanks so much.
Pat Bumstead
The Canada Lynx is endangered only in the USA, as the population there has always been small. Overall, the Canadian population of these cats is thought to be in the high thousands. Large healthy populations roaming over most of the northern parts of Canada mean they are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List.
Mauricio Sandoval
so is the canadian lynx not endangerd and what is its alert status.
Michael
I agree they deserve to keep their habitat along with their right! I think im not alone wondering what happened from 1989-2017 , as human we should protect other species since we are the true threat to about everything living , not only because they are good looking but they should have their place on earth , think about what would it be without all the diversity. We already affected the survival rates of many animals and cause the extinction of too many , who ever think a wild animal fur carpet is nice , think about it twice please!
Many people don’t know about endangered species , and i think more information should be given and spread……
Pat Bumstead
How do you count wild cats? Lynx live in forested areas, are active at night and very good at avoiding people during the day. No one knows how big their population is, but Canada Lynx are found all across northern Canada so their numbers are probably very high.
phillop
what is the lynx population???
Pat Bumstead
Starting in 1999, the reintroduction project released a total of 204 lynx and then stopped moving animals in. From that original number, the cats began breeding on their own and no further reintroductions were required.
Josef Buchko
In the second last paragraph, when it says “from 1999 onward, 204 lynx from Canada and Alaska were relocated…” does it mean that 204 of them are relocated each year, that 204 were relocated in 1999 only, or does it mean that 204 have been relocated since 1999?
Beege Delgado
Colorado Springs, Colorado South Hwy 115.
Our entire micro eco system including the Lynx, Mexican Spotted Owl and Preble’ s Jumping Mouse and flora/fauna is in immanent danger of total distribution by a propsed Quarry.
This will be the 4th such quarry in this small area.
Preliminary core sampling has already displaced and disrupted much of the wildlife.
We found a young female Lynx, dead along the creek/ditch during this operation. Lynx ears were bloody. The large male Lynx is still here.
Please help us stop this loss of vital habitat.
Beege Delgado
3190 Little Turkey Creek Road
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80926
South Hwy 115 corridor
719 219-4575
Animal World Tour: Canadian Lynx | LazyPaw Animal Hospitals
[…] and today researchers say the population is doing well. According to Canada’s branch of the International Society for Endangered Cats, the population overall has stabilized thanks to protective […]
loveheart
I think that the lynx is a beautiful animal and I will try every thing to keep it safe