The Canada lynx (''Lynx canadensis''), or Canadian lynx, is a medium-sized North American
lynx
A lynx is a type of wild cat.
Lynx may also refer to:
Astronomy
* Lynx (constellation)
* Lynx (Chinese astronomy)
* Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory
Places Canada
* Lynx, Ontar ...
that ranges across
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and northern areas of the
contiguous United States
The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
. It is characterized by its long, dense fur, triangular ears with black tufts at the tips, and broad,
snowshoe
Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...
-like paws. Its hindlimbs are longer than the forelimbs, so its back slopes downward to the front. The Canada lynx stands tall at the shoulder and weighs between . The lynx is a good swimmer and an agile climber. The Canada lynx was first
described by
Robert Kerr in 1792. Three
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
have been proposed, but their
validity
Validity or Valid may refer to:
Science/mathematics/statistics:
* Validity (logic), a property of a logical argument
* Scientific:
** Internal validity, the validity of causal inferences within scientific studies, usually based on experiments
** ...
is doubted; it is mostly considered a
monotypic species
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
.
A
specialist predator
A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources (for example, a heterotroph with a varied diet). A specialist species can thrive only in a narrow range of env ...
, the Canada lynx depends heavily on the
snowshoe hare
The snowshoe hare (''Lepus americanus''), also called the varying hare or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal's feet prevent it from sink ...
(''Lepus americanus'') for food. This leads to a
prey-predator cycle, as Canada lynxes respond to the cyclic rises and falls in snowshoe hare populations over the years in Alaska and
central Canada
Central Canada (french: Centre du Canada, sometimes the Central provinces) is a region consisting of Canada's two largest and most populous provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Geographically, they are not at the centre of Canada but instead overlap w ...
. The Canada lynx population increases with an increasing hare population; if the hare population decreases in a given area, it moves to areas with more hares and has fewer
offspring
In biology, offspring are the young creation of living organisms, produced either by a single organism or, in the case of sexual reproduction, two organisms. Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way. This ca ...
. The Canada lynx hunts mainly around twilight, or at night, when snowshoe hares tend to be active. The lynx waits for the hare on specific trails or in "ambush beds", then pounces on it and kills it by a bite on its head, throat or the nape of its neck. Individuals, particularly of the same sex, tend to avoid each other, forming "intrasexual"
territories
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
. The mating season is roughly a month long (from March to early April). After a
gestation
Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...
of two to three months, a litter of one to eight kittens is born. Offspring are
weaned
Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or another mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk.
The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk. The infan ...
at 12 weeks.
This lynx occurs predominantly in dense
boreal forest
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, ...
s, and its range strongly coincides with that of the snowshoe hare. Given its abundance throughout the range and lack of severe threats, the Canada lynx has been listed as
Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
on the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
. This lynx is regularly trapped for the international
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
in most of Alaska and Canada but is protected in the southern half of its range due to threats such as
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
.
Taxonomy
The
scientific name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Felis lynx canadensis'' was proposed by
Robert Kerr in 1792 who
described a
lynx
A lynx is a type of wild cat.
Lynx may also refer to:
Astronomy
* Lynx (constellation)
* Lynx (Chinese astronomy)
* Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory
Places Canada
* Lynx, Ontar ...
from Canada.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, several lynx
zoological specimen
A zoological specimen is an animal or part of an animal preserved for scientific use.
Various uses are: to verify the identity of a (species), to allow study, increase public knowledge of zoology.
Zoological specimens are extremely diverse. Exampl ...
s were described:
*''Lynx subsolanus'' was proposed by
Outram Bangs Outram Bangs (January 12, 1863 – September 22, 1932) was an American zoologist.
Biography
Bangs was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, as the second son of Edward and Annie Outram (Hodgkinson) Bangs. He studied at Harvard from 1880 to 1884, and be ...
in 1897 for a lynx skin and skull collected near
Codroy
Codroy is a community in the Codroy Valley of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
It is a village with about 50 inhabitants, with most living in homes along Newfoundland and Labrador Route 406, the main road in town.
History
The name "Codroy" is ...
,
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
.
*''Lynx canadensis mollipilosus'' was proposed by
Witmer Stone
Witmer Stone (September 22, 1866 – May 24, 1939) was an American ornithologist, botanist, and mammalogist, and was considered one of the last of the “great naturalists.” Stone is remembered principally as an ornithologist. He was president ...
in 1900 who described a skull and a dark brown skin of a male lynx killed near
Wainwright, Alaska
Wainwright (; ''Ulġuniq'' in Iñupiaq), also known as Ulguniq or Kuuk, is a city
in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 556, making it the third largest city in the North Slope Borough, up from ...
.
The placement of the Canada lynx in the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Lynx'' was supported by
Gerrit Miller
Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. (December 6, 1869 – February 24, 1956), was an American zoologist and botanist.
He was born in Peterboro, New York, in 1869. His great-grandfather was Gerrit Smith, the wealthy abolitionist, businessman, and poli ...
in 1912. Until as late as the early 2000s, scientists were divided over whether ''Lynx'' should be considered a
subgenus
In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...
of ''Felis'', or a
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
itself; some even doubted if the Canada lynx should be considered a species on its own.
It was recognized by
Wallace Christopher Wozencraft in 2005 as a
valid ''Lynx'' species along with the
bobcat
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
(''L. rufus''), the
Eurasian lynx
The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an eleva ...
(''L. lynx'') and the
Iberian lynx
The Iberian lynx (''Lynx pardinus'') is a wild cat species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. In the 20th century, the Iberian lynx population had declined because of overhun ...
(''L. pardinus'').
Wozencraft recognized three
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the Canada lynx:
[
* ''L. c. canadensis'' in Canadian mainland
* ''L. c. subsolanus'' in Newfoundland
* ''L. c. mollipilosus'' in Alaska
The validity of the subspecific status of the Newfoundland lynx was questioned in 1975, as results of a study of coat colour, ]cranial
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...
measurements and weights of Canada lynx specimens showed that the standard measurements are not significantly distinct, apart from a few variations like the Newfoundland lynx's darker coat.
In 2017, the Cat Specialist Group considered the Canada lynx a monotypic species
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
, since it shows little morphological or genetic differences.
The lynx population on Newfoundland is thought to have genetically diverged from the mainland Canada lynx around 20,000 to 33,000 years ago following the Last Glacial Period.
Evolution
According to a 2006 phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
study, the ancestor of five extant felid lineages—''Lynx'', ''Leopardus'', ''Puma'', ''Felis'' and ''Prionailurus
''Prionailurus'' is a genus of spotted, small wild cats native to Asia. Forests are their preferred habitat; they feed on small mammals, reptiles and birds, and occasionally aquatic wildlife.
Taxonomy
''Prionailurus'' was first proposed by ...
'' plus ''Otocolobus
The Pallas's cat (''Otocolobus manul'', also known as the manul, is a small wild cat with long and dense light grey fur. Its rounded ears are set low on the sides of the head. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a long bushy tail. It is ...
''—arrived in North America after crossing the Bering Strait (mya). ''Lynx'' diverged from the ''Puma'', ''Felis'' and ''Prionailurus'' plus ''Otocolobus'' lineages around 2.53–4.74mya.[ The Issoire lynx (''L. issiodorensis''), believed to be the ancestor of the four modern ''Lynx'' species, probably originated in Africa 4mya and occurred in Europe and northern Asia until it fell to extinction around 1mya.] The populations of the Eurasian lynx that reached North America 2.6mya are believed to have initially settled in the southern half of the continent, as the northern part was covered by glaciers. The southern populations gradually evolved into the modern bobcat. Later, when the continent was invaded by the Eurasian lynx for a second time within the last 200,000 years, the populations that settled in the northern part of the continent, now devoid of glaciers, evolved into the Canada lynx. In his 1981 paper, Swedish paleontologist Lars Werdelin
Lars Werdelin (born 1955) is a Swedish paleontologist specializing in the evolution of mammalian carnivores. One area of interest has been the evolutionary interaction of carnivores and hominins in Africa.
He received his Ph.D.
A Doctor of P ...
noted that the Canada lynx does not appear to have changed much since its first appearance. Canada lynx fossils excavated in North America date back to the Sangamonian
The Sangamonian Stage (or Sangamon interglacial) is the term used in North America to designate the last interglacial period. In its most common usage, it is used for the period of time between 75,000 and 125,000 BP.Willman, H.B., and J.C. Frye, 1 ...
and the Wisconsin Glacial Episode
The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cord ...
.[ The 2006 study gave the phylogenetic relationships of the Canada lynx as follows:]
Characteristics
The Canada lynx is a lean, medium-sized cat characterized by its long, dense fur, triangular ears with black tufts at the tips, and broad, snowshoe
Snowshoes are specialized outdoor gear for walking over snow. Their large footprint spreads the user's weight out and allows them to travel largely on top of rather than through snow. Adjustable bindings attach them to appropriate winter footwe ...
-like paws. Like the bobcat, the hindlimbs are longer than the forelimbs, so the back slopes downward to the front. The Canada lynx is sexually dimorphic
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...
, with males larger and heavier than females. The lynx is between in total length and stands tall at the shoulder; females weigh around while males around , though an exceptional male in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
weighed .[ Physical proportions do not vary significantly across the range and are probably naturally selected to allow for survival on smaller prey. The stubby tail is long and has a completely black tip.] Skeletal muscles make up 56.5 % of the Canada lynx's body weight.
The long, thick fur, uniformly coloured with little to no markings except on the underside, insulates the lynx in its frosty habitat. The fur is typically yellowish brown, though in Newfoundland it can vary from brown or buff-grey in spring and summer to a greyish shade with a grizzled appearance in winter; the underparts are white and may have a few dark spots. An individual from Alaska was reported to have bluish-grey fur. The fur is generally shorter in summer than in winter. The backs of the ears are brown with a silvery-grey spot at the centre.[ Black tufts around in length emerge from the tips of the ears, which are lined with black fur.][ In winter, the hair on the lower cheek becomes longer, giving the impression of a ruffle covering the throat. There are four nipples.][
The claws are sharp and fully retractile.][ The large, broad paws are covered in long, thick fur and can spread as wide as to move quickly and easily on soft snow.][ Its paws can support almost twice as much weight as a bobcat's before sinking.] Both species walk with the back foot typically following the front foot and often do not follow a straight line. The lynx's stride is , while the bobcat's varies between . Canada lynx tracks are generally larger than those of the bobcat; thicker fur may make the toe pads appear less prominent in the snow. In dirt the tracks of the lynx are long and wide, whereas in snow they are bigger ( long and wide). The warm coat, wide paws and long legs serve as adaptations for the lynx to navigate and hunt efficiently in snow.[
The Canada lynx has 28 teeth. The ]dental formula
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolo ...
is . The deciduous dentition
Deciduous teeth or primary teeth, also informally known as baby teeth, milk teeth, or temporary teeth,Illustrated Dental Embryology, Histology, and Anatomy, Bath-Balogh and Fehrenbach, Elsevier, 2011, page 255 are the first set of teeth in the ...
is , as the young do not have molars.[ The four long ]canines
Canine may refer to:
Zoology and anatomy
* a dog-like Canid animal in the subfamily Caninae
** ''Canis'', a genus including dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals
** Dog, the domestic dog
* Canine tooth, in mammalian oral anatomy
People with the surn ...
are used for puncturing and gripping. The lynx can feel where it is biting the prey with its canines because they are heavily laced with nerves. It also has four carnassial teeth that cut the meat into small pieces. To use its carnassials, the lynx must chew the meat with its head to its side. There are large spaces between the four canines and the rest of the teeth, and the second upper premolar
The premolars, also called premolar teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant in the permanent set of teeth, making eight premolars total in the mouth ...
s are absent, to ensure the bite goes as deeply as possible into the prey.
The Canada lynx can be told apart from the bobcat by its longer ear tufts, broader paws, shorter tail with a fully black tip, longer legs and the fewer markings and greyer shade of the coat. The bobcat is generally smaller than the Canada lynx, but in areas where they are sympatric
In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...
the bobcat tends to be larger and may still be confused with the Canada lynx.[
]
Distribution and habitat
The Canada lynx occurs predominantly in the dense boreal forest of Canada
Boreal may refer to:
Climatology and geography
*Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernander sequence of northern Europe, during the Holocene epoch
*Boreal climate, a climate characterized by long winters and short, cool to mild ...
, and its range strongly coincides with that of the snowshoe hare. In the past, the lynx occurred in the northern United States in 24 states, possibly southward to the Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
in New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
and northward to the tree line
The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...
in the Arctic through coniferous forests in Alaska and Canada. The lynx continues to occur in its former range in most of Alaska and Canada. In the United States, the Canada lynx occurs in the Blue Mountains and the Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
in the Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
, the Rocky Mountains, the northern Great Lakes region
The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...
(in Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
and Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
's Upper Peninsula
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
) and northern New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
(in New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
and Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
). The lynx was successfully reintroduced in Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
starting in 1999, after being extirpated from the state in the 1970s. Canada lynxes generally avoid open areas despite good prey availability; they face difficulty surviving in heavily logged areas and on agricultural land, though they can thrive well in deforested areas that have been left to regenerate at least fifteen years. Canada lynxes have been recorded up to an elevation of .[ It is considered extirpated in ]New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, , Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, and Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
.
A Canada lynx was shot near Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...
in the United Kingdom in 1903 after it attacked two dogs. The animal remained unidentified at the time and was preserved by Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is a large museum and art gallery in Bristol, England. The museum is situated in Clifton, about from the city centre. As part of Bristol Culture it is run by the Bristol City Council with no entrance fee. It holds ...
and was finally identified in a 2014 study. The researchers concluded it had probably been captive for some time, perhaps as an exotic pet
An exotic pet is a pet which is relatively rare or unusual to keep, or is generally thought of as a wild species rather than as a domesticated pet. The definition varies by culture, location, and over time—as animals become firmly enough esta ...
or part of a travelling menagerie, but may have survived for a substantial period after escaping. They considered it "the earliest recorded example of an exotic cat on the loose in the UK".
Ecology and behaviour
The Canada lynx tends to be nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
like its primary prey, the snowshoe hare. Nevertheless, activity may be observed during daytime.[ The lynx can cover daily, moving at , to procure prey.] These lynxes are good swimmers; one account records a Canada lynx swimming across the Yukon River
The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...
.[ Canada lynxes are efficient climbers, and will dodge predators by climbing high up in trees, but they hunt only on the ground.][ These lynxes are primarily solitary, with minimal social interaction except for the bond between mothers and female offspring, and the temporary association between individuals of opposite sexes during the mating season.][ Individuals of the same sex particularly tend to avoid each other, forming "intrasexual" territories—a social structure similar to that of bears, bobcats, cougars and ]mustelid
The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest family in ...
s. Intraspecific aggression and consequent cannibalism are rare, but may be more common when food is scarce.
Home ranges
Canada lynxes establish home range
A home range is the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basis. It is related to the concept of an animal's territory which is the area that is actively defended. The concept of a home range was introduced by W. H. Burt in 1943. He ...
s that vary widely in size, depending upon the method of measurement. The two common methods are examining the tracks of the lynx in snow (snow-tracking) and radio telemetry
Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', "remote", and ...
; snow-tracking generally gives smaller sizes for home ranges. Studies based on snow-tracking have estimated home range sizes of , while those based on radio telemetry have given the area between .[ Like other cats, Canada lynxes scent-mark their ranges by spraying urine and depositing feces on snow or tree stumps and other prominent sites in and around their range.][
Factors such as the availability of prey (primarily snowshoe hare), the density of the lynxes and the topography of the habitat determine the shape and size of the home range.][ Studies have tried to correlate the abundance of snowshoe hares in an area with the sizes of lynxes' home ranges in that area. A 1985 study showed that the mean size of home ranges trebled—from —when the density of hares fell from .] However, a few other studies have reported different responses from Canada lynxes at times of prey scarcity; some lynxes do not show any changes in their ranges, while others may resort to hunting in small areas, occupying small home ranges.[ Canada lynxes generally do not leave their home ranges frequently, though limited prey availability can force them to disperse or expand their ranges.]
Males tend to occupy larger ranges than do females; for instance, data from a 1980 radio telemetric analysis in Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
showed that males' home ranges spread over , while those of females covered . In a study in the southern Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, ranges of individuals of opposite sexes were found to overlap extensively, while the ranges of individuals of the same sex hardly coincided. The study suggested that individuals do not show any significant tendency to avoid or mingle with one another, and thus only passively defend their ranges.[ Female home ranges contract in size when the females have offspring to take care of and expand to their original size at the time of weaning.][
Canada lynxes at the periphery of a population, given their smaller numbers and susceptibility to separation from the central population by natural barriers (such as rivers), might face more difficulty in breeding with lynxes towards the centre of the population and hence show lower ]genetic variability
Genetic variability is either the presence of, or the generation of, genetic differences.
It is defined as "the formation of individuals differing in genotype, or the presence of genotypically different individuals, in contrast to environmentally i ...
. However, Canada lynxes are known to disperse over large distances, often thousands of kilometres, which might increase genetic variability in widely separated populations. They typically move within areas where prey availability and the features of the snow (such as the hardness and the extent to which their paws sink into the snow) are more or less similar; individuals may disperse over smaller areas in areas of soft snow.
Diet and hunting
The Canada lynx preys primarily on the snowshoe hare. These hares comprise 35–97% of their diet; the proportion varies by the season and the abundance of hares.[ However, at times when the hare's numbers drop, Canada lynxes will include other animals in their diet—such as ducks, ]grouse
Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondr ...
, mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
s, ptarmigan
''Lagopus'' is a small genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans (). The genus contains three living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas.
Taxonomy and etymology
The ge ...
, American red squirrel
The American red squirrel (''Tamiasciurus hudsonicus'') is one of three species of tree squirrels currently classified in the genus ''Tamiasciurus'', known as the pine squirrels (the others are the Douglas squirrel, ''T. douglasii'', and the sou ...
s, vole
Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of low-c ...
s and young ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, cam ...
s ( Dall's sheep, mule deer
The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer.
Unlike the related whit ...
and boreal woodland caribou
The boreal woodland caribou (''Rangifer tarandus caribou''; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision. See Reindeer: taxonomy), also known as woodland caribou, boreal forest caribou and forest-dwelling caribou, is a North American subspecies of ...
)—though snowshoe hares continue to be the primary component. The Canada lynx tends to be less selective in summer and autumn, adding small mammals to their diet besides the hare. The reason behind this is unclear—it could be due to a greater abundance of alternate prey, or reduced success in hunting hares.[ A study in Alaska found that lynxes played a role in the decrease in populations of ]red fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...
, caribou and Dall's sheep when hares were very low in number. They have also been reported feeding occasionally on succulents
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
, sedge
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...
s and grasses.[ Canada lynxes ingest of food daily.][
Canada lynxes hunt around twilight or at night, the time when snowshoe hares tend to be active.][ They rely on their vision and sense of hearing to locate prey.][ The lynx will roam or wait (in what researchers often term "ambush beds") on certain trails that snowshoe hares frequent, pounce on a hare and kill it by a bite on its head, throat or the nape of its neck.][ Sometimes a chase of up to several bounds may be necessary to trap the prey. The lynx is assisted by its ]stereoscopic vision
Stereopsis () is the component of depth perception retrieved through binocular vision.
Stereopsis is not the only contributor to depth perception, but it is a major one. Binocular vision happens because each eye receives a different image becaus ...
in detecting prey and measuring distances. Staying in cover while hunting helps the lynx conserve energy in its frigid habitat by avoiding unnecessary movement.[ Young ungulates are given a throat bite to suffocate them to death. The lynx may eat its kill immediately or ]cache
Cache, caching, or caché may refer to:
Places United States
* Cache, Idaho, an unincorporated community
* Cache, Illinois, an unincorporated community
* Cache, Oklahoma, a city in Comanche County
* Cache, Utah, Cache County, Utah
* Cache Count ...
it in snow or leaves to eat it over the next few days.[ Studies suggest success in hunting hares depends heavily on the distance between the lynx and the hare when the lynx begins chasing it and their relative speeds, which in turn depends on the hunting prowess of the lynx, the alertness of the hare and the vegetation cover among other factors.][ Canada lynxes will occasionally hunt together, though studies differ on how this affects the success rate compared to hunting solo.][ These lynxes may hunt in groups when hares are scarce.][ ]Scavenging
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding be ...
is common; they will take ungulates killed by the cold or vehicles.[
]
Apart from Canada lynxes, coyotes are also major predators of the snowshoe hare. A study showed that, compared to Canada lynxes, coyotes' feet sink deeper in the snow due to their smaller size and hence a larger body mass to foot area ratio, prompting them to ambush their prey instead of chasing it as lynxes often do. A study of those two animals in southwest Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
showed that when the hare population increased, both killed more than necessary for subsistence; lynxes need to kill 0.4 to 0.5 hare per day to meet their energy requirements but were observed to kill 1.2 hares per day during this period. Coyotes, with a success rate of 36.9%, emerged as more successful hunters than lynxes that succeeded in 28.7% of their hunts; however, this may have resulted from the greater number of adult coyotes in the studied population. Lynxes rarely cached their kills, unlike coyotes, and this may have led to incomplete consumption of some kills. When snowshoe hare numbers declined, both predators hunted for the same time period as they did when hares were abundant, but lynxes killed more hares than they had earlier. Moreover, lynxes supplemented their diet with American red squirrels.
Relationship with the snowshoe hare
A specialist predator
A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources (for example, a heterotroph with a varied diet). A specialist species can thrive only in a narrow range of env ...
, the Canada lynx depends heavily on snowshoe hares for food.[ Snowshoe hare populations in Alaska and central Canada undergo cyclic rises and falls—at times the population densities can fall from as high as to as low as . Consequently, a period of hare scarcity occurs every eight to 11 years. An example of a prey-predator cycle, the cyclic variations in snowshoe hare populations significantly affect the numbers of their predators—lynxes and ]coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
s—in the region. When the hare populations plummet, lynxes often move to areas with more hares, sometimes covering over , and tend not to produce litters; as the hares' numbers increase, so does the lynx population. In northern Canada, the abundance of lynxes can be estimated from records maintained by the Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
and the Canadian government
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...
since the 1730s. Lynx populations have been found to vary periodically three- to seventeen-fold. These cycles have been cited as an example of the Lotka–Volterra predator–prey equations, caused by the interplay of three major factors—food, predation and social interaction. A study involving statistical modelling of the interspecific relations of the snowshoe hare, the plant species it feeds on and its predators (including the Canada lynx) suggested that while the demographics of the lynx depend primarily on the hare, the hare's dynamics depend on both its diet and its predators, of which the Canada lynx is just one. Environmental factors such as forest fires, precipitation and snowfall might also significantly affect this prey-predator cycle.
Reproduction
The mating season is roughly a month long, from March to early April. Urine marking and mating calls are part of display behaviour
Display behaviour is a set of ritualized behaviours that enable an animal to communicate to other animals (typically of the same species) about specific stimuli. These ritualized behaviours can be visual however many animals depend on a mixture ...
and increase the interaction between individuals of opposite sexes. Females can be induced ovulators when the availability of mates is low, or spontaneous ovulators when several mates are available. Females have only a single estrus cycle
The estrous cycle (, originally ) is the set of recurring physiological changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous p ...
; estrus lasts three to five days in captivity. Individuals have been observed making long wailing vocalizations, probably as mating calls. Before birth, the female prepares a maternal den, usually in very thick brush, and typically inside thickets of shrubs, trees or woody debris.[
After a gestation of two to three months, a litter of one to eight kittens is born.] Lynx reproductive cycles and litter sizes have been observed to vary with prey availability; litter size would typically contract in years of snowshoe hare decline (along with high infant mortality rates), and increase when hares were abundant. Kittens weigh from at birth and initially have greyish buff fur with black markings. They are blind the first fourteen days and weaned
Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or another mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk.
The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk. The infan ...
at twelve weeks. Most births occur from May to July. Kittens leave the den after about five weeks and begin hunting at between seven and nine months of age. They leave the mother at around ten months, as the next breeding season begins, but they do not reach the full adult size until around two years of age. Female offspring typically settle in home ranges close to their mothers and remain in contact with them for life, while male offspring move far from their mother's range. Females reach sexual maturity at ten months but often delay breeding another year; males mature at age two or three. Canada lynxes have been reported to live sixteen years in the wild, though most do not survive ten; in captivity they may make it to twenty-seven.[
]
Diseases and mortality
The Canada lynx is known to host several parasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
s including '' Cylicospirura felineus'', '' Taenia'' species, ''Toxocara cati
''Toxocara cati'', also known as the feline roundworm, is a parasite of cats and other felids. It is one of the most common nematodes of cats, infecting both wild and domestic felids worldwide. Adult worms are localised in the gut of the host. I ...
'', ''Toxascaris leonina
''Toxascaris leonina'' is a common parasitic roundworm found in dogs, cats, foxes, and related host species. ''T. leonina'' is an ascarid nematode, a worldwide distributed helminth parasite which is in a division of eukaryotic parasites that, ...
'' and '' Troglostrongylus wilsoni''. Canada lynxes could have played a role in the transmission of the zoonotic
A zoonosis (; plural zoonoses) or zoonotic disease is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen (an infectious agent, such as a bacterium, virus, parasite or prion) that has jumped from a non-human (usually a vertebrate) to a human. ...
parasite ''Toxoplasma gondii
''Toxoplasma gondii'' () is an obligate intracellular parasitic protozoan (specifically an apicomplexan) that causes toxoplasmosis. Found worldwide, ''T. gondii'' is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals, but felids, such as d ...
'' to the Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
in North America. A study in 2019 identified a gammaherpesvirus
''Gammaherpesvirinae'' is a subfamily of viruses in the order ''Herpesvirales'' and in the family ''Herpesviridae''. Viruses in ''Gammaherpesvirinae'' are distinguished by reproducing at a more variable rate than other subfamilies of ''Herpesvir ...
species in the Canada lynx for the first time. The study discovered a novel percavirus
''Percavirus'' is a genus of viruses in the order ''Herpesvirales'', in the family ''Herpesviridae'', in the subfamily ''Gammaherpesvirinae''. Mammals serve as natural hosts. There are six species in this genus. Diseases associated with this gen ...
, named LcaGHV1, in spleen
The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes . samples of Canada lynxes from Maine and Newfoundland. A study identified plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
as a major cause of mortality in reintroduced populations in Colorado.
Fisher
Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral.
Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
*Elect ...
s are known to hunt Canada lynxes occasionally in the northeastern United States; a study in northern Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
identified predation by fishers as the leading cause of Canada lynx mortality over twelve years, though it did not appear to affect population growth in the lynxes.
Interactions with humans
Trade
Canada lynxes are trapped in specific seasons in most of Alaska and Canada; hunting seasons and quotas are set based on population data. Alberta typically leads in the production of pelts, accounting for nearly a third of Canada's total. Following a cyclic fall in populations during the mid to late 1980s, there was a sharp decline in the prices and harvest of Canada lynx furs—the average number of pelts exported from Canada and the United States fell from 35,669 in 1980–1984 to 7,360 between 1986 and 1989. Subsequently, the numbers have increased to 15,387 during 2000–2006. Average illegal trade in fur and live animals appears to be negligible on the national scale.[ Even without regulation, the lynx-hare cycles and the distribution of the lynx have remained unaffected over the last century.][
A survey of the international ]wildlife trade
Wildlife trade refers to the of products that are derived from non-domesticated animals or plants usually extracted from their natural environment or raised under controlled conditions. It can involve the trade of living or dead individuals, ti ...
between 1980 and 2004 recorded that among all lynxes, the Canada lynx accounted for thirty percent of legal items and had little part in illegal trade. While it was unclear which lynxes were preferred in North America, bobcat and Canada lynx furs appeared to be in greater demand than those of other lynxes in Asian and European markets.
Threats and conservation
In eastern Canada the lynx is threatened by competition with the eastern coyote
An eastern coyote in the snow near the West Virginia–Virginia state line">Virginia.html" ;"title="West Virginia–Virginia">West Virginia–Virginia state line
The eastern coyote is a wild North American canine hybrid with both coyote and wol ...
, whose numbers in the region have risen in the last few decades. Habitat loss is the main threat in the contiguous United States
The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
, while trapping is a relatively insignificant cause of mortality.[ Hybridization between Canada lynxes and bobcats has been reported in the southern periphery of the range. Hybridization between closely related species might significantly delimit the geographic range of the species, especially if they are endangered as reproductive success in females would be reduced by the birth of sterile offspring; on the other hand, fertile hybrids can compete and breed further with the parent species, potentially reducing the numbers of the parent species. Canada lynx-bobcat hybrids have shown signs of reproductive success and do not appear to pose any big threat to the parent species. The Canada lynx is abundant over its broad range and has not been significantly threatened by legal trade for centuries. Therefore, the (IUCN) classifies the Canada lynx as ]Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
.[
However, populations are relatively lower in the southern half of the range and are protected from the fur trade. The lynx is listed as Endangered in ]New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
and Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
.[ On March 24, 2000, the ]US Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
(USFWS) issued its Final Rule, which designated the Canada lynx a Threatened Species in 14 contiguous states. In 2005, the USFWS demarcated six major areas for revival where lynx reproduction had been reported in the past two decades: northern Maine and New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Montana and northeastern Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
, the Kettle River Range
The Kettle River Range, often called the Kettle Range, is the southernmost range of the Monashee Mountains, located in far southeastern British Columbia, Canada and Ferry County, Washington, in the United States. Most of the northern half of the r ...
and the "Wedge area" between the Kettle
A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a type of pot specialized for boiling water, commonly with a ''lid'', ''spout'', and ''handle'', or a small electric kitchen appliance of similar shape that functions in a self-contained ...
and Columbia rivers of Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, the northern Cascade Range of Washington, and the Greater Yellowstone
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is one of the last remaining large, nearly intact ecosystems in the northern temperate zone of the Earth. It is located within the northern Rocky Mountains, in areas of northwestern Wyoming, southwestern Mo ...
area of Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
, Montana and Idaho.[ By 2010, after an 11-year effort, the lynx had been successfully reintroduced into Colorado. The initial introduction was in the ]San Juan Mountains
The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...
in southwestern Colorado, but self-sustaining populations were established throughout the south-central Colorado Rockies as far north as Summit County. A 2012 study showed numbers had improved in the northeastern United States; however, a 2008 study showed lynx populations were not doing well in Washington because of habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes ...
.[ A 2017 study reported increasing numbers in many areas in the United States. In January 2018, the USFWS declared that the Canada lynx no longer needed special protections in the United States following measures to preserve their populations, and their "Threatened" status may be revoked in the future.
Various techniques have been employed to study Canada lynx populations; the data collected can provide useful information on the ecology and distribution of the species and pave the way for effective conservation measures. In scent stations, the lynx is typically lured into camera-monitored areas by skunk scent (sometimes ]catnip
''Nepeta cataria'', commonly known as catnip, catswort, catwort, and catmint, is a species of the genus ''Nepeta'' in the family Lamiaceae, native to southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of China. It is widely n ...
) and a "flasher" such as a bird wing on a string. This technique, though systematic, might be too expensive to carry out in large areas. Other methods include radio telemetry
Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', "remote", and ...
and snow tracking. Snow tracking might be a challenge in areas lacking roads, and sometimes bobcat tracks can be mistaken for those of the Canada lynx. Hair-snaring involves collecting hairs shed by the lynx, especially when they rub against objects (such as the snow); a study showed a mixture of beaver castoreum and catnip oil can strongly induce rubbing behaviour in lynxes. This method is generally inexpensive, and chances of misidentification are low as physical evidence like hairs can be genetically analysed.[
Between 1989 and 1992, a reintroduction attempt into New York State was made when 80 lynx were caught in from northwestern Canada and released into the ]Adirondacks
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...
by the . Some of the released lynx dispersed into the surrounding states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and the Canadian provinces of Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and New Brunswick. After the attempt, Canada lynx were officially considered extirpated in New York State, but are still fully protected under state law. Nineteen individuals were killed in traffic accidents, eight were mistakenly shot by bobcat hunters, and the remaining died from unknown causes or predation.
See also
* List of mammals of Canada
* List of mammals of Alaska
* List of mammals of the United States
About 490 species of mammals are recorded in the United States. Unincorporated territories like for example Puerto Rico, Guam or Northern Mariana Islands are not covered. Mammals introduced and extinct in the Holocene except Pleistocene/Holocene ...
References
External links
Canada lynx
U.S. Fish & Wildlife "Species Profile" and lynx article index
Canada lynx research
at the University of Minnesota Duluth
The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a two-year progr ...
What Drives the 10-year Cycle of Snowshoe Hares?
Forest Service Canada lynx research
{{featured article
ESA threatened species
Lynx
Arctic land animals
Felids of North America
Mammals of Canada
Mammals of the United States
Fauna of New England
Fauna of the Great Lakes region (North America)
Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States)
Fauna of the Rocky Mountains
Fauna of the Western United States
Ecological experiments
Mammals described in 1792
Taxa named by Robert Kerr (writer)