Russian (Eurasian ) Lynx

Description and Behavior

The Eurasian lynx is the largest of the lynxes. Adult males weigh on average 21.6 kg (n=103), while females are slightly smaller at 18.1 kg (n=93). The lynxes of eastern Siberia consistently reach the greatest sizes. The Eurasian lynx has relatively long legs, and large feet which provide a snowshoe effect", allowing for more efficient travel through deep snow. In winter, the fur grows very densely on the bottom of the feet. The coat is greyish, with tint varying from rusty to yellowish. A bright reddish tint, with profuse spotting, is seen most frequently in the south-western part of the lynx's range.

There are three main coat patterns: predominantly spotted, predominantly striped, and unpatterned. While the spotted-striped types, controlled by the Tabby" gene, predominate in present reintroduced European lynx populations (originating mainly from the Carpathian mountains further east), show through examination of 26 pelts of the original, now extinct, populations of the European Alps that these animals were chiefly unpatterned, and were, moreover, smaller in size.

Eurasian lynx have long, prominent black ear tufts, and short black-tipped tails. Lynx activity peaks in the evening and morning hours, with resting mainly around mid-day and midnight.

Although the Eurasian lynx is often classified with the three other lynxes as a predator of lagomorphs, this is a major misconception. Small ungulates, particularly roe deer, chamois and musk deer, are the main prey, and lynx will generally only take small prey when ungulates are scarce.

When young blue sheep are not available, lynx in China have been reported to prey on pikas, large rodents, and hares . Pulliainen et al. (1988) point out that, in Finland, lynx tend to be in better condition in the south-west - where there is an introduced population of white-tailed deer from North America - than in the remainder of the country, where roe deer are very rare and hares are the main available prey. Similarly, Zheltuchin (1992) states that lynx are found at lower densities in the northern parts of Siberia where there are hares but no ungulates; in these regions, arctic hares and lynx fluctuate cyclically (Heptner and Sludskii 1972), similarly to fluctuations described for the Canada lynx.

In some parts of their range, lynx prey mainly on large ungulate species (mostly females or young), including red deer, reindeer, and argali. Lynx are capable of killing prey 3-4 times their own size.

While all the lynx species are similar in appearance, the Eurasian lynx bears the closest morphological resemblance to the Canada lynx, and the two are very often treated as conspecific.
However, Breitenmoser argue convincingly that the two are ecologically separate species. Specialization for different prey has led to a divergence in life history and social and spatial organization. Unlike the Canada lynx, the Eurasian lynx has a phenotype set" typical of a large felid: it is large, long-lived, kills prey at least half its own body weight, forages over wide areas, and generally exists at low densities. Only in some parts of its range, chiefly the northern boundary, is there ecological similarity between the Eurasian and Canada lynxes in their predation on cyclically fluctuating hare populations.

Habitat and Distribution

Throughout Europe and Siberia, lynx are associated primarily with forested areas which have good ungulate populations. In Central Asia, lynx occur in more open, thinly wooded areas. Lynx are probably found throughout the northern slopes of the Himalayas, and have 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.l

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