Description: They have large paws and a short tail. The paws are thickly padded with fur. Their pupils contract to a circle and they have 28 teeth. The paws are broad and hairy and they have retractable claws. Coat: Yellowish grey to red-brown through light brown with dark spots (which are very variable), the tail is black tipped like the long black ear tufts. They have two tassles on their throat like a beard. The uderparts are white and they have white chins and cheeks with some black speckles on their chin. They have a pale mark beneath each eye which are pale brown.
Size: Head and body length 80-130cm, tail length 5-25cm.
Weight: 8-35 kg.
Senses: Climbs well but rarely. Their vision and hearing is acute and they can spot a buzzard in the air of about 4 km, and can hear a twig break at 60 m. The long hair on the side of the face forms a ruff which probably acts like the owls face, like a disk that channels sound and vision. When they spring at their prey they can leap up to 5 m. The large paws allow lynxes to move rapidly over quite soft snow as they spread out and act like snow shoes.
Habitat: Coniferous forest and thick scrub, also steep rocky mountainous areas.
Range: Regualrly marks its territory with droppings. The territory can be very large, 20-150 sq km, depending on prey density, and adjacent territories may overlap to some extent. Neighbouring animals tend to wander through one anothers ranges and leave behind scent marks on prominent landmarks. Other lynxes cheak these markers and thus they can avoid conflict.
Distribution: W Europe to Siberia.
Status: The lynx has been hunted to extinction in many parts of its former range, now it is slowly being reintroduced. It is still hunted by farmers for killing livestock and game animals, though it does little to deplete wild stocks.
Daily Rhythm: Active during the day and night, they spend most of their active hours during the night and only some of their time during the day, particualrly during the mating season and when feeding their young. They rest in dense undergrowth or amongst rocks.
Voice:
Enemies:
Prey: Hare, grouse, rodents (such as mice) and small ungulates (such as young deer, like Roe deer).
Food and Feeding: Generally hunt using stealth, stalking their prey before they pounce or sitting on a branch and dropping onto unsuspecting prey. They often watch from a vantage point for prey and when they spot possible prey they creep slowly towards it and when they are within about 20m of the prey they rush with an explosive spring and can leap up to 5 m onto their prey. If they miss their target they will rarely chase it more than 50m. Like most cat species they do not like to chase their prey long distances. Large prey animals are pulled to the ground and killed by a swift bite to the neck. They drag their prey away to a safe place to be eaten and remnants are hidden under snow or leaves to be consumed later. They need to eat about 1-1.5kg of meat per day and can therefore survive one to two weeks on a large kill.
Grouping: Solitary except during the breeding season.
Breeding: The mating season takes place in February-March.
Gestation: 60-74 days.
Litter Size: 1-5 per litter.
Young Description: The kittens open their eyes within about 16 days.
Nest:
Young Care: Females raise their young alone and their kittens usually stay with their mother through their first winter. The kittens suckle for 5 months, but during part of this time they will eat solid food as well. They learn to hunt whilst in their mothers care and leave her in spring generally when food is easier to catch, after about 1 year with their parent.
Sexual Maturity:
Longevity:

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