Canada Lynx

The Canada Lynx (Lynx Canadensis)
By: Joe Kennedy

From EskiPaper

        Description and Ecology

          The Canada Lynx is a medium-sized cat,   generally 30-35 inches in length and weighing 18-23 pounds. They have large, wide feet that have adapted to walking on heavy snow beds, long legs, fluffy tufts on their ears, and black tipped tails. Their hind legs are actually longer than their front legs, giving them a stooped appearance and an extra spring when pouncing on prey. They are highly adapted hunters, hunting primarily snowshoe hares, and are primarily found in the snows of the boreal forests of southern Alaska and the American mountain ranges under north-central Canada.

          Lynx, like other forest hunters, play an important ecological role. As a mid-size carnivore, they target small prey species that reproduce quickly (r-selected). They also require a unique habitat of younger forests with thick vegetation for hunting these small prey, and older forests with a full canopy and good cover for making their dens. 

                                                    

                                                       Diet

From EskiPaper

        Lynx are extremely specialized hunters that target snowshoe hare, which make up the overwhelming majority of their diet. In fact, it   has been shown that lynx can only sustain populations where there are flourishing snowshoe hare populations. In Canada and Alaska, lynx populations actually fluctuate directly in accordance to how many hares there are. Although mostly hare-centered, lynx are also known to eat mice, grouse, ptarmigan, red squirrel and carrion.

Geographic and Population Changes

        Individual lynx maintain large home ranges (between 12-83 square miles). These large home ranges mean that a lynx population can only truly persist in a large boreal landscape that contains deep snow basically all year round. Areas with small patches of boreal are not suitable to support a population. Lynx are highly mobile when food becomes scarce and have been known to frequently colonize unoccupied habitats. 

From the Wikimedia Commons

        The US populations of the lynx are directly influenced and sourced from the populations in Canada. Regionally, these populations interact as meta-populations, therefor it is important not only to asses and focus on specific sites, but also the populations on the whole and their interactions with each other. 

        The destruction of boreal forest land and the melting of usually year-long snow patches has required populations to change geographic homes. With such large home ranges, the ability to change habitats, and the general elusiveness of the Canada Lynx, it is difficult to know exactly where they have been extirpated from. Some areas have gone as much as forty years with no validated sitings, but will have a random appearance out of the blue. We do know the core areas from which they stem though:

   

•       Northeast: Northern Maine / northern New Hampshire
•       Great Lakes: Northeastern Minnesota
•       Northern Rockies/Cascades: Northeastern Montana and Idaho, northern Washington, Kettle/Wedge      (Washington), Greater Yellowstone Area
•       Southern Rockies: Colorado (all), southern Wyoming

US Fish and Wildlife Service

Listing Status

The Canada Lynx was listed as "threatened" on March 24, 2000 due to these factors:


Causes, and Main Threats

                    A) In all regions within the range of lynx in the contiguous United States, the timber 

                         harvest (including the process to acquire the timber) is the predominant land use                                  affecting lynx habitats.

                    B) Over-utilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes. 

                    C) Disease and predation (most likely at local levels, not at the population level)

                    D) Inadequate regulatory methods (Forest Service and BLM lack long term plans)

                    E) Other natural or manmade factors affecting the species' continued existence                                          (highways, urbanization, competition between coyotes and bobcats)

   

From the Wikimedia Commons

              Recovery Plan

     The recovery goal is to address threats to the lynx so that protection under the Endangered Species Act is no longer required and delisting is warranted.

     Official "recovery" will be achieved when the conditions have been satisfied to allow the lynx populations to persist in the long term within each separate core area.

   

            

            Objective 1: Preserve the habitats (at each core location)  and keep them at a sufficient                                             quality to support long-term lynx populations. 

            Objective 2: Ensure that sufficient habitats are kept between the core areas to allow smooth                                       immigration and emigration (especially from Canada into the US core sites).

            Objective 3: Ensure that habitats in secondary areas (potential sites for the lynx to inhabit)                                       remain available.

            Objective 4: Address all threats so that the lynx populations will be able to live within the                                         contiguous United States for at least the next 100 years.

   To address and achieve these four objectives, the recovery plan holds some specific steps....

         But first... watch this dramatic video of a Canadian Lynx chasing a snowshoe hare!

• Establish management commitments in core areas
• This will include the implementation of long term guidance, on Federal Land, by individuals  verified in a biological opinion. On private and State land, the development of management agreements will be attempted.

• Maintain baseline inventories of lynx habitat in the major core areas
• This is mainly to monitor changes in structure and distribution of the habitats components.

• Monitor the number of lynx in appropriate management units
• This should be done at least once every 10 years to determine the numbers and distributions within core areas.

• Identify and keep track of movement between core areas in US and Canada
• This will be more difficult due to the need to make agreements with Canada, but the goal is to have Canada keep track of data the same way we do with the US population numbers and distributions.

• Ensure secondary habitats remain available
• The main thing that needs to be done here is to figure out exactly where the lynx are present and where they can stray off to. Once it is known where they may go, management agreements with key landowners need to be made. A case by case basis, but most likely centered around ending the timber harvest

• Identify population and habitat limiting factors within the US
• Gather more information about ecological trends, requirements, distribution, and population size within the core areas. To identify risk posed by forest management strategies and human-induced mortality (such as roads, trapping, and hunting). And to monitor the affects of climate change on the boreal regions. 

• Develop a post-delisting monitoring plan
• This will be in place the ensure the continuing effectiveness of the whole plan and to recommend extra recovery actions and management.

How Can You Help?

• Adopt a Lynx!
• Symbolically adopting a lynx is great way to financially support the cause and to raise more awareness (plus you get a sweet stuffed lynx!)

Defenders of Wildlife

• Send messages to your government officials!
• By sending letters to government officials, you can bring about knowledge of these beautiful creatures to the ones who have the legal power to help.

• Stay informed!
• By staying informed you can keep on track with the progress of the Canada lynx' recovery and make sure you are aware if any issues or great news arrises!

   Other Resources

• Recovery Plan
• Basic Facts
• Lynx Documentary 

Work Cited

“Basic Facts About Canada Lynx.” Defenders of Wildlife, Defenders, 19 Sept. 2016, www.defenders.org/canada-lynx/basic-facts.

“Canada Lynx.” Wikimedia Commons, Wikimeda Commons, 26 Apr. 2011, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canada_Lynx_(6187103428).jpg.

“Canadian Lynx 12007.” Canadian Lynx Wallpaper | 1920x1080 | #12007, Eski Paper, eskipaper.com/canadian-lynx.html#gal_post_12007_canadian-lynx-1.jpg.

 “How You Can Help Canada Lynx.” Defenders of Wildlife, Defenders, 3 Oct. 2017, www.defenders.org/canada-lynx/how-you-can-help.

Nordstrom, Lori, and Anna Hect. “Recovery Outline: Canada Lynx.” USFWS, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 14 Sept. 2005.