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| EURASIAN
LYNK - KEY FACTS |
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| Scientific Name: Lynx lynx |
Size: Head and body 31.5-51 inches
(80-130cm);
tail 4.5-9.5 inches (11-24cm) |
| Weight: 44-84 pounds (20-38kg) |
| Distribution: Western Europe, Scandinavia,
Asia Minor, and Northern Asia, including Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Turkey,
Iran, Iraq, Russia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Northern China, Germany, former Yugoslavia,
Switzerland, Italy and Austria. |
| Habitat: Prefers forest area, but
lives also in rocky areas, open forests, scrub and brushy areas. |
| Diet: Rabbits and hares, mice, birds
and small deer. |
| Reproduction: After a gestation period
of about 10 weeks, female gives birth to 1-5 kittens. |
| Status: Near
Threatened |
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| Also known as the Northern Lynx, it
was originally called the European Lynx. The Eurasian Lynx is a medium-sized cat
of northern forests. It has a stocky body with big, broad paws, long, powerful
legs, a very short, black-tipped tail, and tufted ears. There is faint spotting
all over the body, and black and white facial lines. The tail has probably been
shortened as a protection against the extreme cold that this lynx must often face
during the long northern |
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winters,
but what the animal loses in conspicuous tail-signals, it makes up for with movements
of its tufted ears and its remarkable neck-ruff. This ruff, with black and white
markings, which looks like a pair of throat tassels, is fanned opened when the
animal hisses and clearly acts as an aggressive visual signal.
The Eurasian Lynx is driven by its harsh environment to eat anything it can catch,
but it specializes in rabbits and hares, which make up most of its diet, along
with occasional small deer, chipmunks, rats, mice, and lemmings. Because of the
scarcity of food, each individual covers a large territory, sometimes as vast
as over 100 square miles (300 sq km).
The New World counterpart of the Eurasian Lynx, the Canadian
Lynx (Lynx canadensis), is thought by some authorities to belong to
the same species. Others, however, have pointed out that the Canadian
Lynx is only about half the size of the Eurasian form, lacks the spotting
on the body, and has an even shorter tail. As a result, the two lynxes are now
generally considered to be two separate species. |
| EURASIAN
LYNK PHOTOS |
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