--- title: "Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "A snowshoe-pawed wild cat of the northern forests whose numbers rise and fall with the snowshoe hares it eats." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/canada-lynx-1.webp" published: "2026-10-12" updated: "2026-10-12" --- # Canada Lynx (*Lynx canadensis*) > **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: A snowshoe-pawed wild cat of the northern forests whose numbers rise and fall with the snowshoe hares it eats. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: 2010s Pop & Electropop // Lykke Li, "I Follow Rivers" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/336ZYcU6poBWi3s8yzRcAD) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZYbEL06lEU) > **Vibe Match**: A marching drum that keeps on following. A lynx stalks to within a few short bounds of its prey and then pounces, and its populations peak and crash in roughly 10-year cycles that track the numbers of snowshoe hares. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Lynx canadensis* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2025-2.rlts.t12518a275326314.en)) - **Superpower**: Large paws that act like snowshoes, letting it chase fast prey through deep, powdery snow - **Habitat**: Cold northern boreal forest of North America - **Diet**: Mostly snowshoe hares, plus rodents, birds, squirrels, and other small mammals - **Tags**: mammal, feline, carnivore, forest, solitary-hunter ## Natural History & Behavior ## A cat built from snowshoes The Canada lynx, *Lynx canadensis*, is a medium-sized wild cat of the cold northern forests of North America. That habitat is called boreal forest. It favors patches of regenerating forest within older stands of trees, patches that usually feature dense undergrowth where snowshoe hares live. On average, a lynx is 75 to 90 centimeters (30 to 35 inches) long and weighs around 6 to 14 kilograms (15 to 30 pounds). Males are typically a bit larger than females. In the wild it lives up to 15 years, and in human care up to 22. Its paws are the trick. They are large for its size and act like snowshoes, letting it pursue fast prey in deep, powdery snow. Long, thin tufts of fur stand on the tips of its ears, and its short tail ends in black. ## One main dish Snowshoe hares make up 60 to 97 percent of a lynx's diet. An individual lynx eats one hare every 1 to 2 days on average. Rodents, birds, squirrels and other small mammals fill in, particularly in summer. A lynx normally stalks to within a few short bounds of its prey and then pounces. Some will wait in ambush for hours. Females and young sometimes hunt hares cooperatively, spreading out in a line and moving through relatively open areas. Prey scared up by one cat is often caught by others in the line. ## Boom, bust, repeat Lynx populations peak and crash in roughly 10-year cycles that track the numbers of snowshoe hares, especially in the northern parts of the lynx's range. > **A cycle fur traders noticed** > The 10-year snowshoe hare cycle is a classic, recognized by fur traders for more than 300 years. Experiments adding food and restricting predator access to field populations were decisive in pinpointing predation as the key mechanism causing these fluctuations. When hares thin out, lynx numbers fall too. Females give birth to litters of one to four kittens, usually in May or June, and litter size often depends on hare abundance. ## Loner with a voice Lynx are mostly solitary. They communicate mainly by scent marking, but they also use barks, growls, yowls and cries. Home ranges vary in size from 11 to 300 square kilometers. The IUCN rates the species Least Concern. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does a Canada lynx cope with deep snow? One study compared lynx with coyotes living in the same area. The two are of similar size and mass, but lynx feet are much larger. The coyotes carried 4.1 to 8.8 times the foot-load of the lynx (body mass divided by foot area), and on average their legs sank deeper. The lynx also used areas where the snow was deeper. *(Source: [Murray & Boutin 1991]())* ### Do lynx cause the snowshoe hare crashes? Lynx are among the killers. Predation is the immediate cause of death for most snowshoe hares, by a variety of predators. Hare births collapse too, and that is not due to food shortage, as was once thought, but to chronic stress from predator chases. *(Source: [Krebs, Boonstra & Boutin 2017]())* ### Do lynx in different places share genes? Yes, over huge distances. A study of lynx from 17 collection sites found high gene flow even between sites more than 3,100 km apart. Its authors suggested that managers in the contiguous United States should focus on keeping connections open to the core of the lynx's range. *(Source: [Schwartz et al. 2002]())* ## Sources 1. [Canada lynx. Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.]() 2. [Lynx canadensis (Canada lynx). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 3. [Krebs, Boonstra & Boutin (2017). Using experimentation to understand the 10‐year snowshoe hare cycle in the boreal forest of North America. Journal of Animal Ecology.]() 4. [Murray & Boutin (1991). The influence of snow on lynx and coyote movements: does morphology affect behavior? Oecologia.]() 5. [Schwartz et al. (2002). DNA reveals high dispersal synchronizing the population dynamics of Canada lynx. Nature.]() 6. [Murray & Thornton (2025). Lynx canadensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T12518A275326314.]() *Published October 12, 2026. 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