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Description
Lynx are members of the "felid" or cat family. Lynx are medium-sized animals. Adults weigh an average of 10 kg for males and 8.5 kg for females. They appear somewhat larger because of their long legs and long, thick fur. Some distinctive features of lynx are ear tufts, a ruff of fur around the face, a short black-tipped tail, snowshoe-like paws and long legs. Their broad, well-furred paws are a necessary adaptation for chasing snowshoe hares in deep snow. Their fur is a gray-brown mixture with paler gray or brown on the belly, legs, and feet. In late spring, their colour darkens to a reddish brown.
Lynx depend heavily on snowshoe hares and their populations fluctuate with cycles of snowshoe hares.
Distribution
They live in boreal forests across North America. Lynx in the NWT are found below the treeline and are most numerous in the southwest and in the Mackenzie Delta.
Adult lynx are solitary, except during the breeding season and when raising young. Each adult establishes a territory by marking rocks, trees and stumps with its scent. Males generally use larger areas than females. Territories of lynx of different ages and sex often overlap but adults of the same sex usually avoid each other. When hunting is good, this territory or "home range" is approximately 15 to 25 km2. When hares are scarce, lynx may expand this range to double or triple in size, or they may travel great distances in search of food.
Lynx have been known to travel more than 1,000 km.
