Eurasian Lynx

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iEurasian Lynx

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Genus:	Lynx
Species:	L. lynx

Binomial name

Lynx lynx
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) is a medium-sized cat of European and Siberian forests, where it is one of the major predators. It has grey to reddish fur with black spots; the pattern of the fur is variable: lynxes with heavily spotted fur may exist close to conspecifics with plain fur.

Lynxes prey on hares, rodents, foxes, and even roe deer.

[edit] Status

Once this cat was quite common in all of Europe. By the middle of the 20th century it had become extinct in most countries of Central and Western Europe, as well as Great Britain. In recent times there have been successful attempts to reintroduce the lynx to forests.

Status of the Eurasian Lynx in various countries and regions:

France: Exterminated about 1900, but now reintroduced to the Vosges and Pyrenees.
Netherlands: Officially the lynx is extinct in the Netherlands (since the Middle Ages). Although in the 1990s there were some sightings in the southern province of Limburg and in the eastern province of Gelderland.
Belgium: Migrated in from France since 2005.
Germany: The lynx was exterminated in 1850. It was reintroduced to the Bavarian Forest and the Harz in the 1990s. In 2002 the first birth of wild lynxes on German territory was announced: a couple of lynxes in the Harz National Park had given birth to the young. Also present in the Eifel, probably from France. And in the Vogelsberg Mountains in Hesse.
Switzerland: Extinct in 1915, reintroduced in 1971. From here lynxes migrated to Austria, where they had been exterminated as well.
Poland: There are about 1000 lynxes in the Białowieża Forest and the Tatra mountains.
Carpathian Mountains: 2200 lynxes in this mountain range, which extends from the Czech Republic to Romania; largest continuous lynx population west of the Russian border.
Balkan peninsula: In Serbia, Macedonia, Albania and Greece there are altogether approximately 100 lynxes, the largest numbers in the remote hills of Western Macedonia [1];.
Czech Republic: In Bohemia exterminated in 19th century (1830-1890), in Moravia probably at the turn of 19th and 20th century. After 1945 migration from Slovakia created small and unstable population in Moravia, in 1970s and 1980s was reintroduced in Šumava area. On begin of 2006 was population of Eurasian Lynx in Czech Republic estimated as 65-105 individuals. Its population is very endangered from poachers.
Scandinavia: There are about 2500 lynxes in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Scandinavian lynxes were close to extinction, but increased again due to protection. In the meantime protective hunting for lynxes has been legalised again. The lynx is the only non-domestic feline in Scandinavia.
Estonia: There are currently about 1000 Lynxes in Estonia, and their fossil record dates back 8000 years.
Russia: More than 90% of all Eurasian Lynxes live in the forests of Siberia. They are distributed from the western borders of Russia to the Pacific island of Sakhalin.
Central Asia: The lynx is also native to the Chinese provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Shaanxi, as well as to Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and in Northern Pakistan (Kashmir).

The Eurasian Lynx was considered extinct in Slovenia and Croatia since the beginning of the 20th century. Allegedly last the lynx was killed in 1908. But a resettlement project that begun in Slovenia in 1973 was a success. Today the lynx can be found in the Slovenian Alps and in the Croatian regions of Gorski Kotar and Velebit. In both countries the lynx is listed as an endangered species and protected by law. Realistic population estimates are of 40 to 50 lynxes in Slovenia and about 70 in Croatia.