Canadian lynx:

A stealthy cat

Any member of the Felidae or cat family never fails to fascinate us. And this has nothing to do with the fact the cute domesticated cats many of us have as pets and love dearly are part of this family, but mostly because they are generally powerful and very beautiful animals with striking fur coats .The big cats such as the lion,tiger, leopard and cougar are magnificent in appearance and are indeed a sight to behold, especially in their natural habitats,

There are many small cats too that are equally striking in appearance and the lynxes are one such species.However, many of you may not be so familiar with them especially since they are not found in the Asian region and are not common even in wildlife parks and zoos.

There are four species of lynxes but today we feature one of the smaller species known as the Canadian lynx.It is a small wild cat similar in appearance to its cousin the Eurasian lynx.The Canadian lynx also called the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) is a North American felid found mostly in forest and tundra regions across Canada and into Alaska as well as some parts of the northern United States.

It has a dense fur coat which is silvery brown in colour and may bear blackish markings. In summer, its coat takes on a more reddish brown colour. It also sports a furry ruff which resembles a double-pointed beard and long furry tufts on its ears.

The lynxes do not have long tails like other cats do and so the Canadian lynx too has a short tail with a black tip. Its legs are really long and don't seem to be in proportion to its body. The feet are broad and furry and in fact resemble snow shoes that people wear to walk in heavy snow.

These large feet aid the animal in travelling through deep snow. It is larger than the bobcat, with which it shares parts of its range, and over twice the size of the domestic cat. It is in average 8 to 11 kilograms (18 to 24 lb) in weight of ), and about 80 to 105 centimetres (31 to 41 in) in length. Its shoulder height is 8 to 56 centimetres (19 to 22 in). Males are larger than females. Although the species is larger on average than the bobcat, it is less variable in size and the largest bobcats outsize the lynx.

A secretive and mostly nocturnal animal, the Canadian lynx may be active at any time of the day too. Like other cats, it also uses scent marking to indicate its territory. Adults typically deposit faeces on top of the snow or on tree stumps and other prominent sites, and frequently spray urine to mark their range. It usually shelters in areas of particularly dense forest, but in regions where its range overlaps with that of other predators, such as bobcats and coyotes, it tends to stay within a hundred yards of the tree-line and hunt in areas with deeper snow cover, or at higher altitudes.The lynx roams about one and a half to three miles each day, and requires a large territory. Typical home ranges are between 15 and 50 square kilometres (5.8 and 19 sq mi), but are highly variable, with extremes from 3 to 783 square kilometres (1.2 to 302 sq mi) having been reported. When food becomes scarce, the lynxs’ territory will increases,and most of the animals roam far, with a select few staying behind in their original territory. When necessary it also swims.Although normally solitary, at times small groups may be observed travelling together.The lynx creates a shelter or a den in the crevices of fallen trees or under rock ledges.

All lynx are skilled hunters that make use of great hearing (the tufts on their ears are a hearing aid) and eyesight so strong that a lynx can spot a mouse 250 feet (75 metres) away.The Canadian lynx will hunt every one to two days and consume around 600 to 1,200 grams (1.3 to 2.6 lb) of food per day.

The lynx hunts by stalking and jumping its prey, varying its tactics depending on the terrain and relative abundance of prey species.

Like all lynx, it has 28 teeth, with four long canines for puncturing and gripping. The lynx can feel where it is biting the prey with its canines because they are heavily laced with nerves.And as a carnivorous mammal, its diet comprises a wide range of animals from white-tailed deer, reindeer, roe deer, small red deer, and chamois, to smaller, prey like the snowshoe hares, fish, fox, sheep, squirrels, mice, turkeys and other birds, and goats.

However , its most favourite is the snow shoe hare and it comprises 60-97 per cent of its diet.In fact, the number of lynxes in the wild seems to depend on the rise and decline of hares.

If food is scarce and the lynx comes upon a large number of prey, it may go on a spree, killing as many prey as possible, then storing the kills. It does not have great stamina but uses great skill to hunt ; whilst it is fast over short distances, it lacks the ability to keep up speed for more than a few feet. Instead, it uses its large ears and eyes to seek out prey. If the lynx does not catch its prey within the first few seconds, it will generally give up the chase to conserve energy.

If the lynx kills or scavenges a larger animal that it cannot consume all in one sitting, it will drag it to a hiding area such as a bush or under a rock and then will cover the dead animal with leaves and return to consume it later. Such behaviour is particularly common when prey is abundant.

Although Canada lynx are typically solitary hunters, females and cubs have been seen to hunt together in coordinated attacks. While one lynx will scare the prey out of the hiding place, the others are ready to attack a short distance away. The breeding season in Canadian lynx lasts only for a month, ranging from March to May, depending on the local climate.

After a gestation ( pregnancy) period of about 70 days the female gives birth to a litter of two to four kittens. The young are born in May or early June.

Before birth, the female prepares a maternal den, usually in very thick brush, and typically inside thickets of shrubs or trees or woody debris. The dens are generally situated mid-slope and face south or southwest.

The cubs weigh from 175 to 235 grams (6.2 to 8.3 oz) at birth, and initially have greyish buff fur with black markings. They are blind and helpless for the first fourteen days, and weaned at twelve weeks.When their eyes open, they are a bright blue colour, but as they mature, the eyes become a brown-hazel colour.

The mother brings the food to her cubs and allows them to play with it before eating it, thus training their hunting skills.Cubs leave the den after about five weeks, and begin hunting at between seven and nine months of age.

The young which are nursed by the mother stay with her for about nine months learning skills from her before moving out to live on their own as young adults.

They leave the mother at around ten months, as the next breeding season begins, but do not reach the full adult size until around two years old. Female reach sexual maturity at ten months, although they often delay breeding for another year, while males reach maturity at two or three years. Canada lynx have been reported to live for up to fourteen years in captivity, although the lifespan is likely much shorter in the wild.

By 2010, after an 11 year effort, it had been successfully reintroduced into Colorado where it had become extinct in the 1970s.In 2000, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service designated the Canada Lynx a threatened species in the lower 48 states.

The hunting of lynx is illegal in many countries. The Iberian lynx is almost extinct and killing them has been outlawed since the 1970s in Spain and Portugal.

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[FAST FACTS]

*The four species of lynxes are the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) which from central and northern Europe across Asia, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) native to the Iberian Peninsula in Southern Europe ,Canadian lynx mainly present in boreal forests of Canada and Alaska and the bobcat (Lynx rufus),a North American wildcat.There are two Lynx species in North America - Canada Lynx and bobcats, both found in the temperate zone.

* Canadian lynx have thick coats and broad paws, and are twice as effective as bobcats at supporting their weight on the snow.

* The plural name for this animal is either lynx or lynxes.

* The Canadian lynx's diet is almost exclusive to and dependent on snowshoe hares and their numbers.

* The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word meaning "light, brightness",in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes .

* The four living species of the Lynx genus are believed to have evolved from the "Issoire lynx", which lived in Europe and Africa during the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene. The Pliocene felid Felis rexroadensis from North America has been proposed as an even earlier ancestor; however, this was larger than any living species, and is not currently classified as a true lynx.

* Lynx have short tails and characteristic tufts of black hair on the tip of their ears.

*The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is the biggest of the lynxes. It is native to European and Siberian forests.

*The Iberian lynx is a critically endangered species . It is the most endangered cat species in the world.

* With twelve recognised subspecies, bobcats are common throughout southern Canada, continental United States, and northern Mexico.

* The bobcat resembles other species of the Lynx genus but is on average the smallest of the four.

*Lynx inhabit high altitude forests with dense cover of shrubs, reeds, and tall grass. Although the cats hunt on the ground, they can climb trees and can swim swiftly, catching fish.

* The lynx is considered a national animal in the Republic of Macedonia and Romania and is displayed on the reverse of the Macedonian 5 denar coin.

*The Canadian lynx is trapped for its beautiful fur and has declined in many areas due to habitat loss too.

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