A short body, a stumpy black-tipped tail and unique ear-tufts give the Lynx a distinctive appearance, but the physical characteristics to which it owes its success as a skilled hunter are its keen eyesight (the Lynx can spot a mouse 75 meters away), its great hearing (the tufts on its ears are a hearing aid), its strong legs and broad padded paws (the Lynxes paws enable it to travel over the softest snow without sinking, or to stalk its prey without a sound).
Lynx kittens are born in summer, after about 70 day’s gestation. Females give birth to a litter of about two to four kittens once a year. They are slow developers; even at nine months they still have milk teeth and weak claws, and are unable to kill a Hare. Throughout their first winter, they remain almost completely dependent on their mother for food, and if they lose her they are likely to starve.
Lynxes eat any birds or mammals they can kill, but in North America their main prey is the Varying Hare. They are so dependent on the Hare for food that they have a population cycle which closely follows the ten-year cycle of the Hare. When Hares are scarce, Lynxes frequently wander beyond their normal range in search of squirrels, rats, fish, grouse or other prey. Bigger Eurasian Lynxes hunt deer and other larger prey besides small animals.
The hunting of Lynx is illegal in many countries. The Iberian Lynx is nearly extinct and killing them has been forbidden since the 1970s in Spain and Portugal. (There is a Lynx reproduction centre planned outside Silves in the Algarve in southern Portugal.)
The Lynx is a solitary cat that can be found in the remote northern forests of North America, Europe and Asia. The smallest species of Lynx are the Bobcat and the Canada Lynx, whereas the largest is the Eurasian Lynx; though there are substantial variations within the species.
Lynx kittens are born in summer, after about 70 day’s gestation. Females give birth to a litter of about two to four kittens once a year. They are slow developers; even at nine months they still have milk teeth and weak claws, and are unable to kill a Hare. Throughout their first winter, they remain almost completely dependent on their mother for food, and if they lose her they are likely to starve.
Lynxes eat any birds or mammals they can kill, but in North America their main prey is the Varying Hare. They are so dependent on the Hare for food that they have a population cycle which closely follows the ten-year cycle of the Hare. When Hares are scarce, Lynxes frequently wander beyond their normal range in search of squirrels, rats, fish, grouse or other prey. Bigger Eurasian Lynxes hunt deer and other larger prey besides small animals.
The hunting of Lynx is illegal in many countries. The Iberian Lynx is nearly extinct and killing them has been forbidden since the 1970s in Spain and Portugal. (There is a Lynx reproduction centre planned outside Silves in the Algarve in southern Portugal.)
The Lynx is a solitary cat that can be found in the remote northern forests of North America, Europe and Asia. The smallest species of Lynx are the Bobcat and the Canada Lynx, whereas the largest is the Eurasian Lynx; though there are substantial variations within the species.
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