Current SCI all time record: Score 10 6/8

Description: The Canada lynx has a flared facial ruff, black ear tufts, and long hind legs which lend a slightly stooped posture. The pelage is reddish-brown to grey; the hairs are tipped with white which gives the fur a frosted appearance. There is a rare pallid color phase which suggests partial albinism, known as the blue lynx in the fur trade. The Canada lynx's large spreading feet act like snowshoes, and are twice as effective at supporting its weight on snow as those of the bobcat.

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Range: Alaska, Canada, and northern areas of Idaho, Montana, and Washington, but primarily hunted in British Columbia; winter months.

Natural History: Canadian lynx are strictly carnivores. The snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) is of particular importance in the diet, and populations of the two are known to fluctuate in linked cycles with periods of about 9.6 years and a slight lag between hare and lynx populations. Although in some areas lynx prey exclusively on the hares, in other areas they also take rodents, birds and fish. In the fall and winter lynx will kill and eat deer and other large ungulates that are weakened by the rutting season and will also utilize carcasses left by human hunters.

Females enter estrus only once a year and raise one litter per year. Estrus lasts 1-2 days. Mating mostly occurs in February and March and the gestation period is from eight to ten weeks long. Litters typically have two or three kittens, though the number may range from one to five. Birth weight is about 200 g. Lactation lasts for five months, although some meat is eaten as early as one month. The male does not participate in parental care. Young remain with the mother until the following winter's mating season and siblings may remain together for a while after separation from the mother. Females reach sexual maturity at 21 months and males at 33 months.

Lynx seem to be territorial, but home ranges of females may overlap. Male home ranges may include the range of a single female and her young. Ranges vary in size from 11 to 300 square kilometers. Adults typically avoid each other except during the winter breeding season. Lynx are primarily visual predators but also have well-developed hearing. They hunt mainly at night. Prey are normally stalked to within a few short bounds and then pounced on, although some animals will wait in ambush for hours. Females and young sometimes hunt for hares cooperatively by spreading out in a line and moving through relatively open areas. Prey scared up by one animal is often caught by others in the line. This method of hunting can be quite successful and may be important in the education of the young in hunting technique. Activity is almost entirely nocturnal. Lynx den in rough nests under rock ledges, fallen trees or shrubs.

Lynx usually live in mature forests with dense undergrowth but can also be found in more open forests, rocky areas or tundra.

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