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Canadian Lynx
Environment Yukon Photo
Page Index:
- Distribution
- Characteristics
- A Year in the Life of a Lynx
- Lynx and People
- Viewing Opportunities
- Interesting Facts
The Species: Lynx Canadensis
The feline face, black ear tufts, and under-chin facial ruffs of the lynx create one of the most striking images of the boreal forest. This is the only wild cat with a range that extends beyond the Arctic Circle.
The Canadian lynx has adapted to northern regions by focusing almost exclusively on the snowshoe hare as a source of food. Waiting quietly in the willows beside a well-trodden rabbit path, or searching slowly along the edges of a spruce-hemmed clearing, a lynx displays the graceful stealth of the solitary feline hunter.
Distribution
Lynx inhabit the entire Yukon with the exception of the arctic coastal plain. During population highs, they are scattered in fairly large numbers over the territory, occupying coniferous-deciduous forests of white spruce, lodgepole pine, aspen, and willow.
Because lynx are so dependent on snowshoe hare, fluctuations in hare populations cause lynx numbers to rise and fall. When hare populations crash, lynx numbers go through a three to five year low period. Although they continue to have the same-sized home range, fewer lynx are able to occupy their home ranges when hares are scarce. Those who leave may starve or end up in traps. Lynx that survive the hare crashes usually are those that have found hare refugia -- areas in which hare populations have remained high enough to sustain the lynx. These refugia are characterized by having dense cover and suitable hare food.
Characteristics
The Canadian lynx's short, compact body is insulated with thick, buff-coloured underfur and long, grey guard hairs that give it a silver sheen along its back. The tail is small and black-tipped. Mature male lynx weigh between ten to fifteen kilograms. Females are slightly smaller. In winter, long legs and unusually large, well-furred, snowshoe-like feet allow the lynx to move over deep snow with ease.
A Year In the Life of a Lynx
Through the darkest and coldest part of the year - sometimes in temperatures lower than -40° Celsius - a lynx roams over its home range in search of snowshoe hare. The winter diet of lynx consists of 90 to 95 % of snowshoe hare. When these animals are plentiful, a lynx may consume an average of one hare a day. When few hares can be found, lynx try to survive on grouse, ptarmigan and the few small mammals that are active and accessible in winter.
To conserve energy in cold temperatures, lynx spend much of their time bedded down. They also save energy by hunting using a stationary ambush tactic. When a hare passes by, the lynx leaps from its hiding place. After a short chase of not more than ten bounds, it pins the hare under its forepaws and kills it instantly with a bite to the neck. Another hunting method involves walking in a zigzag pattern through areas where hares are present in an attempt to flush them out of hiding.
Male and female lynx form temporary bonds during the mating season which is during March and April. One to seven kittens are born between May to June under brush piles or tree roots in remote areas of dense spruce forests. At twelve weeks old, the kittens are weaned and able to move away from the safety of the den. They are now open to attack by wolves, wolverines and even eagles. Lynx kittens remain with their mother until the following breeding season.
As adults, lynx will occasionally hunt together. With home ranges that overlap, a number of lynx in an area will often meet. When this happens they seem to be quite tolerant of each other..
The ability of lynx to successfully raise their young is closely tied to snowshoe hare abundance. Although adult lynx continue to breed when snowshoe hares are scarce, fewer kittens are born and these usually die of starvation shortly after birth. But as hares become more plentiful, lynx begin to breed more successfully, litter sizes increase, and fewer young perish.
Young lynx spend the short northern summer sharpening their hunting skills. Teamed up with their mother, they fan out to flush snowshoe hare from the willows. If the hunting is good, surplus food will be cached under mounds of grass marked with droppings.
Lynx forage throughout the long daylight hours of Yukon summers, but avoid periods of bright sunlight. With small animals abounding, the lynx diet includes more voles, mice, ground squirrels and beaver in the summer. Juicy young sedges and grasses are also eaten and, depending on hare abundance, lynx may scavenge off the carcasses of wolf-killed moose or caribou. A few lynx may add variety to their diets by feeding on salmon carcasses later in the season.
Before the first snow flies, usually in late October, young lynx have attained their adult pelage. With their less dense summer coats replaced by thick winter pelts, they are ready for the cold.
Lynx and People
Lynx fur was traditionally used by Yukon First Nations for ceremonial cloaks and robes. A ritual treatment of the carcass ensured that the animal's spirit was content.
To the Yukon trapping industry, the lynx has often been one of the most valuable furbearers. When popular, thick winter pelts of Yukon lynx command top prices on the international market, and this can make lynx management a difficult task. Trappers and government harvest managers work together to ensure the long term health of lynx populations. When lynx numbers are down, trappers are expected to cut back on their trapping effort. This makes sense in the long run because, the more animals that survive through a population low, the quicker and higher lynx numbers will rebound.
Viewing Opportunities
Prospective lynx viewers and photographers should first look for snowshoe hare. Where they are found, lynx will also be found. When hare populations are high or rising, the opportunities to observe lynx will be greater.
River travellers occasionally see lynx hunting along the shorelines or sitting under riverside stands of spruce. A canoe, which the lynx may mistake for a floating tree, can be an excellent viewing platform.
Interesting Facts
- The large feet of a lynx can support twice as much body weight as the smaller bobcats feet.
- Even though they're closely related, hybridization of lynx and bobcats is not known to occur.
- Until quite recently, lynx were thought to be very unsociable, but close observation has revealed that lynx sometimes meet in spruce groves to socialize.
- Lynx home ranges do overlap, especially between animals of different ages and sexes.
- Although cougars do occasionally range into the southern Yukon, the lynx is the territory's only resident feline.