The Canada Lynx by Allison Jones

Canada Lynx

(Lynx canadensis)

By Allison Jones

Description and Ecology:

The Canada Lynx is a medium-sized, muscular cat with long, pointy triangular ears and a distinct facial ruff around its neck. Its main prey is the snowshoe hair, so it has highly adapted large paws that spread widely to act as snowshoes and enable it to run in deep snow. The Canada Lynx fur is grey, and its upper-parts may have a frosted appearance. In addition, its undersides have dark spots, and it has a bobbed tail with a completely black tip. It is generally around 30-35 inches long and about 18-23 pounds, and males are typically slightly larger than females. The Canada Lynx plays an important role in its ecosystem because they help to regulate the population of the snowshoe hare. The lynx is usually solitary and spends most of its time alone, hunting and traveling. They mating season is typically from March to April, and the females give birth to around 1 to 5 young. The male lynx does not play a role in rearing their young, while the mothers stay with their young for about their first year of life.

Geographic and Population Changes:

Historically, the Canada Lynx is endemic to North America, from Alaska to Canada to the Northern U.S. states. Now, it is still found in this range in much of Alaska, Canada, and its range can expand to as low as parts of Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. They are generally found in boreal forests, which have cold winters and is where their prey, the snowshoe hare, lives. It is no surprise that their geographic range is extremely similar to that of their main prey the snowshoe hare.

Canada Lynx Range

Snowshoe Hare Range

Listing Date and Type of Listing:

The date the Canada Lynx was listed as threatened was on March 24, 2000 under the Endangered Species Act.

Cause of listing and Main threats to its continued existence:

There are a few reasons why the Canada lynx was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The main reason it is listed is because of loss of habitat due to timber harvesting in the lynx’s habitat. There was a lack of guidance for conservation of lynx given that a considerable amount of lynx habitat is federally managed. Due to this lack of guidance, large portions of the lynx’s habitats have been degraded by timber harvesting. In addition to this, another threat the lynx faces is trapping for its fur. Luckily, because it is placed on the Endangered Species Act, it is now prohibited to hunt or trap them in the United States. Lastly, another threat to the lynx is climate change, which is shifting their habitats more northward. The main cause of this climate change is fires in the timber industry. As the climate warms, the lynx’s range is forced to retreat more northward to survive the new temperatures.

Description of Recovery Plan:

Lynx habitat management plans were made for various places that the lynx’s range expands. In the Northern and Southern Rockies, it was found that some timber harvest activities may reduce the quality of lynx habitats, so it is now managed to conserve lynx. Also, in the Great Lakes region, the lynx habitats on National Forest lands is managed to conserve lynx by minimizing the impacts of timber harvest and fire suppression. Lastly, in the Northeast region, they are focusing on partial cutting versus clearcutting timber to protect the lynx habitat. Another precaution being taken is restricting lynx trapping since the 1980s. Besides these actions, there is no formal management plan that specifically concerns lynx conservation. The overall goal of the Canada lynx recovery plan is to address the threats to the animal so that their condition will not become worse, and protection under the Endangered Species Act is not needed.

What can you do?

After learning about the Canada lynx, a thought you may be having is, “how can I help”? and the good news is you’ve already done the first step- becoming informed! Now that you are equipped with the knowledge of the issues posing threats to the lynx, you can make simple changes in your life that could impact the lynx’s habitat. As you know now, one of the main factors harming the habitats lynx live in is the timber industry. You can easily switch out paper products such as straws, plates, notebooks, and more in your household to products made out of recycled paper! Using less paper means supporting the timber industry less, which protects the Canada lynx’s home! In addition to this, you can show your support by adopting a Canada Lynx from the World Wildlife Fund.  

If you want to support the Canada lynx conservation by donating or check out more information about this fascinating animal, click on the links below! 😃😃

Adopt a Canada Lynx from the WWF!
Canada Lynx Basics
Canada Lynx Recovery Plan

Works Cited

“Basic Facts about Canada Lynx.” Defenders of Wildlife, defenders.org/canada-lynx/basic-facts.

“Canada Lynx.” Endangered Species, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/canadaLynx.php.

Fox, David L., and Tiffany Murphy. “Lynx canadensis Canada lynx.” Animal Diversity Web, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lynx_canadensis/.

“Recovery Outline Contiguous United States Distinct Population Segment of the Canada Lynx.” U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 14 Oct. 2005, www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html.

Modern Language Association 8th edition formatting by BibMe.org.

Picture Citations:

Works Cited

“Canada Lynx.” Creatures of the World Wikia, creatures-of-the-world.wikia.com/wiki/Canada_Lynx.

“Felidae Conservation Fund.” Canadian Lynx | Felidae Conservation Fund, www.felidaefund.org/?q=species-canadian-lynx.

“Paper Hot Cups with Ingeo™ Lining & CPLA Lids.” Biocompostables: Biodegradable Paper Hot Cups & FSC® Paper Hot Cups, Lids | World Centric, www.worldcentric.org/biocompostables/cups/hot-cups.

Timber Harvesting. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Timber_Harvesting,_Muncaster_Fell_-_geograph.org.uk_-_117030.jpg.
“Where is It.” Arctic hare v.s snowshoe hare, arcticharesnowshoehare577.weebly.com/where-is-it.html.

Modern Language Association 8th edition formatting by BibMe.org.