Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx)

Background The third largest predator in Europe, the lynx has a short body, long legs and large feet. The head is rounded, with triangular ears with black tufts. It often has a flared facial ruff. Pelt colour varies within and between different parts of the species’ wide range. A lynx walks on its toes. The front feet have five toes while the hind feet only have four. The claws are sharp, strong and retractile – especially those on the front feet used to seize prey. Its vast geographical range has resulted in high phenotype variation with up to 11 subspecies being described. These however require verification. The Eurasian lynx is the largest of four lynx species. Males are larger than females, and individuals from the species’ northern and eastern geographical range are larger than those from southern and western areas. Adults weigh between 12 –35 kg, with body length ranging from 70-130 cm. Shoulder height is 65 cm. Forest is typical lynx habitat, but lynxes also occur in semi-deserts. The lynx’s preferred diet includes roe deer, chamois and musk deer. Lynx will also take larger ungulates such as red deer, moose, or wild boar occasionally. Where ungulates are not available, birds, hares and rodents form important prey. In Norway, Sweden and Finland, lynx also kill significant numbers of semi-domesticated reindeer. Depredation on sheep is also a problem in some countries. Lynx in the UK The Lynx was once a native of the greater part of Britain, but died out, or was exterminated, by Roman times. Thus there is little information on why they died out. Not surprisingly, the increasing urbanization of western Europe and loss of forested areas has led to a severe reduction in the lynx population. Reintroduction Case Study A meeting of specialists was held at the Neuchâtel in Switzerland during October 1980 to discuss the worrying status of the lynx in Europe. As a relatively large predatory species, the lynx poses particular problems when reintroduction schemes are tried out. Only three out of nine attempts made since then appear to have achieved any lasting success. Two of these schemes wee organized in the Swiss cantons of Jura and Obwalden, where about twenty lynxes from the Carpathian Mountains were released. Since then, it is estimated that they have spread to occupy about two-thirds of the available territory in the Swiss Alps. Here it has been shown by radio-tracking that lynxes require vast territories: those occupied by a male range from 200 to 400 sq km (about 80 - 150 sq miles), while those of females extend over an area of 100 to 150 sq km (about 40 - 60 sq miles) and typically overlap with that of a male. The total lynx population in Switzerland is now estimated to be between fifty and one hundred, but not everyone is pleased at the return of this predatory species. Studies have shown that approximately 85% of the lynx's diet in this region comprises chamois and roe deer, as well as red deer fawns and smaller mammals; each lynx makes between fifty and eighty kills of this type annually. But unfortunately they also occasionally prey on farm stock. Between 1973 and 1979 losses of domestic stock attributed to lynxes, for which compensation was paid, were 533 animals, the annual figure is now about fifty, the majority of which are sheep. This has led to calls to curb the lynx population, especially in the canton of Valais.

Lynx and Cub Eurasian Lynx distribution