Eurasian lynx - Lynx lynx

Lynx facts

Size

Males 18 – 25 kg
Females 12 – 16 kg

Reproduction
Mating: March
Birth: May - June
Litter size: 1-4, normally 2-3 

Diet
Strictly carnivorous.
Roe deer, chamois, red deer, hares, forest birds, domestic sheep, semi-domestic reindeer  

Social organisation
Solitary and territorial - little overlap with members of same sex.

Home ranges
Vary from 120 to 1800 km2 for males and 80 to 500 km2 for females.  

 

Lynx. Photo J. Linnell
Eurasian lynx - Lynx lynx. Photo © John Linnell/NINA

Threats:


(1) Throughout Europe poaching is one of the major threats to lynx survival.

(2) In countries such as Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Romania lynx are hunted. There is a need to ensure that quotas here remain at a sustainable level.

(3) The Balkan population is very small, completely isolated, and lives in habitats with a poor prey base. This population is the one of greatest concern in Europe today.

(4) Lynx in some parts of their range (e.g. NE Poland, Belarus and Lithuania) have a very fragmented distribution, living in forest patches isolated from each other by farmland.

Distribution

Distribution maps available from Data Dryad


Status:


8,000 to 9,000 in Europe (of which 7,000 to 8,000 in the EU)
11 populations

Population name

Countries

Size

(2012-2016)

Trend

Scandinavian

Norway, Sweden

1300 - 1800

Decline

Karelian

Finland

2500

Stable

Baltic

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine

1200 - 1500

Slight decrease

Bohemian-Bavarian-Austrian

Czech Republic, Germany, Austria

60-80

Stable

Carpathian

Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria

2100-2400

Stable

Alpine

Switzerland, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, France

163

Slowly increasing

Jura

France, Switzerland

140

Slowly increasing

Vosges Palatinian

France, Germany

1 - 3

Decline

Dinaric

Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina

130

Stable or decrease

Harz Mountains Germany 46 Slowly increasing

Balkan

"the former Yugoslav Republic of 20 - 40

20 - 40

Stable

 

Link - IUCN Red List Assessment for Eurasian lynx in Europe