Lynx - Why we need to care -

© Copyright 2012 Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders At Work

Learn and Care

The lynx is a medium-sized cat characterized by its long ear tufts and short (bobbed) tail with a black tip. It has unusually large paws that act as snow shoes in very deep snow and its thick fur and long legs make it appear larger than it really is.



Fast Facts
Height Around 2 feet (.61m)

Length 2.5 - 3 feet (.76 - .91m)

Weight: 10-23 lbs (8-10 kg)

Lifespan: 10-15 years.

Diet:
Lynx are specialized hunters and can survive only where
there are adequate snowshoe hare populations. Lynx are also known to eat mice, voles, grouse, ptarmigan and red squirrel.

Population:
Perhaps 1,000 lynx exist in the lower 48 states.

Range:
Historically, lynx lived in four geographically distinct areas within the continental United States. These areas included the Northeast, the Great Lakes states, the northern Rocky Mountains/Cascades and the southern Rocky Mountains.

Did You Know?
Lynx have excellent eyesight: they can spot a mouse at 250 feet! Also, the black tufts of hair at the tops of their ears serve to enhance their already phenomenal hearing.
In the United States today, lynx are known to occur only in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington. A recent reintroduction program has reestablished a population in Colorado.

Behavior:
Generally solitary animals, lynx usually hunt and travel alone and are slightly more active at night than by day. Lynx have complex needs for their habitat. They require different forest types, including young forests with thick vegetation for hunting snowshoe hares and older forests with good cover for their dens.

Reproduction:
Mating Season: March and April
Gestation: 63-70 days
Litter Size: Average of 4 kittens.
Kittens stay with their mother for the first year while they learn to hunt.

Climate Change and Other Threats:
Lynx are threatened by climate change in different ways. Lynx depend on areas with abundant snowshoe hare populations and lots of deep, soft snow where their large snowshoe-like paws give them a competitive advantage over coyotes, bobcats and other predators. Rising temperatures will decrease snowfall overall, and more melting snow will cause more frequent refreezing, creating a hard crust atop softer snow. These conditions will be more favorable to competitors like coyotes.

Defenders at Work:

Defenders has been working for two decades to draw attention to the plight of the lynx, provide it with federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, and protect critical lynx habitat.

Lynx need a mix of young and old forests in close proximity to each other. Young forests with lots of underbrush are where snowshoe hares live, but lynx need older forests with a lot of downed trees to den in. As climate change is altering forest dynamics and increasing the number of forest fires, there may be less older forest for lynx to den in. Lynx are also threatened by logging, which destroys the habitat both it and the snowshoe hare rely upon for survival.

Reasons For Hope:
Many efforts have gone into helping preserve the lynx.

Reducing mortality: Once hunted and trapped for their fur, the lynx is now protected from all hunting in the U.S., except in Alaska.
Protecting habitat: In 2000, the lynx was recognized as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. In February 2009 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 39,000 square miles of forest in six states to conserve the threatened cat. That includes 12,834 square miles in two areas of Montana.
Restoring a population: In 1999, Colorado began an ambitious lynx restoration program in the remote San Juan Mountains, and by 2005 more than 200 animals had been released. And as proof that conservationists’ hard work has paid off, in June 2009 ten lynx kittens were found in 5 dens in Colorado!

Legal Status/Protection:
Endangered Species Act: Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the lynx is listed as threatened.