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The 'Eurasian Lynx' (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized cat native to European and Siberian forests, where it is one of the predators. The Eurasian Lynx is the biggest of the lynxes, ranging in length from 80 to 130 cm (32 to 51 in) and standing about 70 cm (28 in) at the shoulder. Males usually weigh from 18 kg (39.7 lbs) to 30 kg (66 lbs) and females weigh 18.1 kg (40 lbs) on average.^[1] It has grey to reddish fur with black spots. The pattern of the fur is variable; lynxes with heavily spotted fur may exist close to conspecifics with plain fur. The Eurasian Lynx is mainly nocturnal and lives solitarily as an adult. Moreover, the sounds this lynx makes are very quiet and seldom heard, so the presence of the species in an area may go unnoticed for years. Remnants of prey or tracks on snow are usually observed long before the animal is seen.
Lynxes prey on hares, rabbits, rodents, foxes, Roe Deer and Reindeer. As with other cats, trying on larger prey presents a risk to the animal. The main method of hunting is stalking, sneaking and jumping on prey. In winter certain snow conditions make this harder and the animal may be forced to switch to larger prey. The European Lynx likes rugged forested country providing plenty of hideouts and stalking opportunities. The hunting area of an average lynx is from 20 to 60 km² and it could tread more than 20 km during one night.

Contents

Status

Subspecies

References

External links

Status

Once this cat was quite common in all of Europe. By the middle of the 20th century, it had became extinct in most countries of Central and Western Europe. Recently, there have been successful attempts to reintroduce lynx to forests.
Status of the Eurasian Lynx in various countries and regions:

★ Balkan peninsula: In Serbia, Macedonia, Albania and Greece there are approximately 100 lynxes, the largest numbers in the remote hills of Western Macedonia.^[2]

★ Britain: It was thought that the lynx had died out in Britain either about 10,000 years ago, after the ice had retreated, or about 4,000 years ago, during cooler and wetter climate change. However, carbon dating of lynx skulls taken from the National Museums of Scotland and the Craven caves in North Yorkshire show they lived in Britain between 80 AD and 425.^[3]

★ Carpathian Mountains: About 2,800 lynxes live in this mountain range in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Serbia. Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe Species fact sheet - Lynx lynx It is the largest continuous Eurasian Lynx population west of the Russian border.


★ Central Asia: The European Lynx is also native to the Chinese provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Shaanxi, as well as to Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and to Northern Pakistan (Kashmir).

★ Czech Republic: In Bohemia, lynx was exterminated in the 19th century (1830-1890) and in Moravia probably at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. After 1945 migration from Slovakia created a small and unstable population in Moravia. In the 1980s, almost 20 specimens were imported from Slovakia and reintroduced in the Šumava area. At the beginning of 2006 , the population of lynx in the Czech Republic was estimated at 65-105 individuals. Hunting is prohibited, but lynx is often threatened by poachers.

★ Dinaric Alps: Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are home to about 130 lynxes. Lynx was considered extinct in these countries since the beginning of the 20th century. However, a resettlement project that begun in Slovenia in 1973 was a success. Today the lynx can be found in the Slovenian Alps and in the Croatian regions of Gorski Kotar and Velebit spanning over the Dinaric Alps and over the Dinara Mountain into western Bosnia and Herzegovina. In all three countries, lynx is listed as an endangered species and protected by law. Realistic population estimates are of 40 lynxes in Slovenia, 50-60 in Croatia and about 40 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

★ Estonia: There are 900 specimens in Estonia according to the last estimation in 2001.^[4]

★ Fennoscandia: Fennoscandian lynxes were close to extinction in the 1930s-1950s but increased again thanks to protection. In the meantime protective hunting for lynxes has been legalised again. The numbers are still on a slow increase. Lynx is the only non-domestic feline in Scandinavia.

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★ Finland: 1,100 to 1,200 specimens (2006 est.) ^[5]

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★ Norway: Lynx lives throughout almost all of Norway except for the western part. 51 to 56 lynxes bred in Norway in 2005 and the population was estimated at 300-329 specimens.^[6]

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★ Sweden: Sweden had an estimated population of about 1,400 lynxes in 2006. The hunt is controlled by government agencies.^[7] Hunters who wish to partake in the hunt for lynx must register for the so-called protective hunt, which takes place in March. There are only a few animals to be shot in each region depending on how many lynxes there are and/or how the Reindeer herding is affected. Every shot animal and shooting location is controlled by the County Administration and the carcass is sent away for analysis to National Veterinary Institute. The shooter himself may keep the skin, if a microchip or transponder is attached by the local police authority. The skull of the shot animal can be sent back to the shooter for a fee of about €70. No more than 75 animals in 20 regions may be shot in 2007, an increase from 51 in 2006 (always about 5 % of the population). In 2006 there were 41 lynxes killed outside hunting, 31 in traffic accidents.

★ France: Lynx was exterminated about the year 1900 but later reintroduced to the Vosges and Pyrenees.

★ Germany: Lynx was exterminated in 1850 . It was reintroduced to the Bavarian Forest and the Harz in the 1990s. In 2002 the first birth of wild lynxes on German territory was announced: a couple of lynxes in the Harz National Park gave birth to the young. Also present in the Eifel, probably from France. And in the Vogelsberg Mountains in Hesse.

★ Netherlands: Lynx is extinct in the Netherlands (since the Middle Ages). Although there were some sightings, they probably stem from captive bred lynx escaped or released to the wild.^[8]

★ Poland: There are about 1,000 lynxes in the Białowieża Forest and the Tatra mountains.

★ Russia: More than 90% of all Eurasian Lynxes live in the forests of Siberia. They are distributed from the western borders of Russia to the Pacific island of Sakhalin.

★ Slovakia: Lynx is native to forested areas in Central and East Slovakia. Lynx in Slovakia lives mainly in mixed forests at altitudes from 800 to 1,000 m. Lynx could be found in many national parks of Slovakia and other protected areas.^[9][10]

★ Switzerland: Lynx was extinct in 1915 but reintroduced in 1971. From here lynx migrated to Austria, where they had been exterminated as well.

Subspecies

Scandinavian Lynx (''Lynx lynx lynx'')

The following are the recognized subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx. Others have been proposed, but are now considered to be synonyms for these.

★ ''Lynx lynx lynx'', Scandinavia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and western Serbia, Caucasus, Siberia, Mongolia, Northern China, Korea

★ ''Lynx lynx isabellinus'', Central Asia

★ ''Lynx lynx kozlovi'', Central Siberia

★ ''Lynx lynx sardiniae'', Sardinia (extinct)

★ ''Lynx lynx stroganovi'', Amur region

References

1. Eurasian Lynx
2. Action urged to save Balkan lynx
3. "The bone-man's legacy"; ''New Scientist'' 11 August 2007; pp48-49
4. Estonia - 3. Size & trend
5. Suurpetojen lukumäärä ja lisääntyminen vuonna 2005
6. Lynx
7. Swedish Environmental Protection Agency & Council For Predator Issues
8. ELOIS - Introduction
9. Natura 2000 Sites - Rys ostrovid
10. Slovakia (SK)

External links

★ Eurasian Lynx Online Information System for Europe

★ About the Eurasian Lynx from the Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan

★ Eurasian Lynx on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

★ Eurasian Lynx at the World Conservation Monitoring Centre