Canada lynx
A rare, snow-adapted wild cat with tufted ears and huge furry paws, living in high conifer forest at Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton.
Canada lynx at a glance
Lynx canadensis LINKS kan-uh-DEN-sis
- Type
- Mammal · cat
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Size
- About the size of a large housecat stretched out, 26 to 33 inches long (66 to 84 cm) and 16 to 35 pounds (7 to 16 kg) — a male averages close to the weight of a full suitcase packed for a trip.
- Lifespan
- Typically 10 to 12 years in the wild.
- Conservation
- Threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in the contiguous United States since 2000 (the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is part of its critical range); globally, the IUCN Red List rates it Least Concern because populations in Canada and Alaska remain secure.
Eats snowshoe hares, rodents, birds, red squirrels
A Canada lynx hunts alone, mostly by stalking and ambush, day or night. Snowshoe hares make up 60 to 90 percent of what it eats; when hares are scarce it falls back on rodents, birds, and squirrels.
Should you worry?
None realistically — it is rare, shy, and avoids people almost entirely. In decades of records, Yellowstone has logged only about 112 confirmed sightings.
Only about 112 times in Yellowstone’s recorded history has anyone confirmed a Canada lynx. Not 112 lynx living in the park: 112 known observations, spread across decades. The park says the evidence suggests lynx do raise young in the greater Yellowstone region, so the animal is there, and still almost nobody sees one.
The paws explain part of the disappearing act. A lynx’s feet are enormous for its body and ringed with fur in and around the pads, spreading its weight over snow the way a snowshoe does, so it can move easily through drifts that would leave a coyote or bobcat floundering. That advantage only pays off in a narrow band of country: conifer forest above roughly 7,700 feet, the elevation where snowshoe hares, which make up as much as 90 percent of a lynx’s diet, are thick enough to be worth chasing. Go higher or lower and the hares thin out along with the reason for a lynx to be there at all.
That narrow, snowbound address is also why the cat’s legal status looks almost backward. The Canada lynx isn’t rare across its whole range — in Canada and Alaska the population is secure enough that the global listing is Least Concern. In the Lower 48, including the parks it depends on here, it’s been listed as threatened since 2000, mostly because federal forest plans didn’t do enough to protect the high snow country it needs. A sighting logged in a Yellowstone ranger’s notebook is one small addition to a list that, after all these years, still fits on a few printed pages.
Did you know?
- A Canada lynx's black ear tufts and complete black tail ring are the easiest way to tell it apart from a bobcat, which has a shorter tail with only a partial black ring.
- Lynx numbers rise and fall on a 9-to-11-year cycle that tracks the boom-and-bust population cycle of snowshoe hares, their main prey.
- The Canada lynx was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the lower 48 states in 2000 not because it was disappearing fast, but because federal land-management plans at the time didn't do enough to protect its forest habitat.
Common questions
Are Canada lynx dangerous to kids?
Essentially never an issue. They are rare and avoid people so thoroughly that Yellowstone has only about 112 confirmed sightings on record.
How do you tell a Canada lynx from a bobcat?
Ear tufts and tail. A lynx has longer black ear tufts and a tail ringed solid black at the tip; a bobcat's tail is shorter with only a partial black band.
What do Canada lynx eat?
Mostly snowshoe hares — 60 to 90 percent of their diet. When hares are scarce, they switch to rodents, birds, and squirrels.
Why are Canada lynx so hard to find in Yellowstone?
They live in a narrow band of high conifer forest, above about 7,700 feet, where snowshoe hares are dense enough to hunt, and they actively avoid people.
Is the Canada lynx endangered?
In the contiguous United States it's listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, largely over habitat protection on federal land. Globally, across Canada and Alaska, its population is considered secure.