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Lynx lynx
– Near Threatened
Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
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ANIMALIA
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Phylum:
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CHORDATA
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Class:
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MAMMALIA
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Order:
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CARNIVORA
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Family:
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FELIDAE
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Scientific Name:
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Lynx lynx
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Species Authority:
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(Linnaeus, 1758)
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Common Name/s:
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EURASIAN LYNX (Eng)
LYNX (Fre)
LINCE (Spa)
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Assessment Information
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Red List Category & Criteria:
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NT ver 3.1 (2001)
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Year Assessed:
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2002
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Assessor/s:
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Cat Specialist Group
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Evaluator/s:
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Nowell, K., Breitenmoser, U., Breitenmoser, C. & Jackson, P. (Cat Red List Authority)
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Justification:
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Based on estimates of density and geographic range (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Breitenmoser et al. 2000), the lynx’s total effective population size is estimated at below 50,000 mature breeding individuals, with a declining trend due to degradation of its habitat and prey base, and may possibly qualify as Vulnerable if these trends persist, or if better information on its status and range were available.
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History:
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| 1996 | - | Lower Risk/least concern (Baillie and Groombridge 1996) |
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Geographic Range
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Range Description:
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L. lynx ranges through much of Europe, Central Asia, Siberia and East Asia.
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Countries:
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Native:
Afghanistan; Albania; Armenia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bhutan; China; Croatia; Czech Republic; Estonia; Finland; France; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Hungary; India; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Italy; Kazakhstan; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lithuania; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Moldova, Republic of; Mongolia; Montenegro; Nepal; Norway; Pakistan; Poland; Romania; Russian Federation; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Tajikistan; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan
Regionally extinct:
Bulgaria
Uncertain presence and origin:
Iraq
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Population
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Population:
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The lynx is rare in Europe. It was widely extirpated within the past several hundred years, but populations were reintroduced from the late 1970's onward, and the total is now estimated at only about 3,000, with little connectivity between subpopulations localized around mountain ranges (Breitenmoser et al. 2000). There are larger populations in northern Europe and the Baltics, and the lynx’s stronghold is a broad strip of southern Siberian woodland stretching through Russia from the Ural mountains to the Pacific. Little information is available from the remainder of the lynx’s wide Asian range (Nowell and Jackson 1996).
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Population Trend:
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Habitat and Ecology
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Habitat and Ecology:
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Throughout Europe and Siberia, lynx are associated primarily with forested areas which have good ungulate populations (Nowell and Jackson 1996). In Central Asia lynx occur in more open, thinly wooded areas. The species probably occurs throughout the northern slopes of the Himalayas, and has been reported both from thick scrub woodland and barren, rocky areas above the treeline. On the better-forested southern Himalayan slopes, the only record is a sighting in alpine tundra (4,500 m) from the Dhaulagiri region of Nepal. Lynx occur locally over the entire Tibetan plateau, and are found throughout the rocky hills and mountains of the Central Asian desert regions. Small ungulates are the lynx’s primary prey, although it will also take small prey when ungulates are scarce (Nowell and Jackson 1996).
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System:
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Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine
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Threats
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Threats:
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Lynx are vulnerable to destruction of their ungulate prey base. Hunting pressure may also play a role in lynx population declines. Habitat destruction through clear-cutting can have a negative effect on lynx abundance. There is no information beyond harvest reports on which to base an assessment of the biological impact of commercial trapping for furs, and thus its significance as a threat is difficult to judge (Nowell and Jackson 1996).
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Conservation Actions
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Conservation Actions:
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Included on CITES Appendix II. Hunting of this species is prohibited in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Hunting regulations apply in China, Finland, Slovakia, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Russia and Turkey (Nowell and Jackson 1996)
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