Populations/information by Country (as at 2009)
Russia: 90% of Eurasian lynx live here. Turkey: Unknown, poor management, declining pops. Carpathian Mountains: Czech, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Yugoslavia: 2,800 live here. BAP claims: 2,200. Largest lynx pop. in Europe. Distinct from other lynx, almost own sub-species. Romania: 2,000 – stable population (src: Wiki). This seems to conflict with the figure above (Carpathian Mountains). Balkan Peninsula: Yugoslavia, Albania, Macedonia, Greece: Est. 100 brink of extinction. See more (new widow). BAP claims: 50 lynx. Pop isolated from all others. Highly threatened, urgent action needed. Britain: extinguished 80-425 AD. Czech Republic: Exterminated, reintroduced, poached still. Less than 105. Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina: Extirpated and reintroduced. !130 – 200. Estonia: 900 (2001). Finland: 1,100 – 1,200 (2006). Norway: 409 – 439 stable (Wikipedia). BAP says that there 2,500. The Nordic pop. has recovered since 1850 and is stable but hunting quotas allowed. Sweden: 1,400 (2006) Hunting controlled by government c.f. Carpathian Mountains. France: Pyrenean Mountains: Extirpated 1900 – reintroduced. BAP says that it is uncertain if the lynx exists here. If it does it is “virtually extinct”. Germany: Extirpated 1850 and reintroduced the Bavarian Forest and the Harz – 1990. Latvia: 700 (2005). Population estimates are difficult to make accurate as distribution is scattered. Claimed stable. Hunted in Latvia. Baltic: Estimated (rough estimate) 2,000 lynx. Lynx hunted in Estonia and Latvia. Netherlands: Extinct since Middle Ages. Poland: 128 at least 2006/2007. Slovakia: Unknown but present. Switzerland: Extinct since 1915 and reintroduced 1971.
Threats and Conservation
Threats:
- Illegal trade in skins
- Illegal hunting
- Habitat loss
- Prey loss (due to habitat loss and hunting
All are due to human activity.
Conservation:
- Listed in CITES Appendix II (…lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled” src: CITES)
- Protected under the Bern Convention (Appendix III) – The Council of Europe Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. It was adopted on 9-1979, coming into force on 1-6-1982. There are 40 Contracting Parties including 35 member States of the Council of Europe as well as as the European Union. Appendix III lists protected fauna species. (src: http://www.unep.ch)
- Hunting for commercial purpose is illegal except in Russia (but see above)
Video
This is an interesting video of a rescued Eurasian lynx in Finland. The cat was released soon after this video was made. It is illegal to keep wild animals in captivity as pets in Finland.
RELATED:
- Lynx cat – about “re-wilding”
- Balkan Lynx is endangered
- Canadian Lynx
- Canadian Lynx Kittens
- Iberian Lynx critically endangered
- Lynx an attractive wildcat
Photos on this page:
- top and second down photo plus of the Russian forest– license: published under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs creative commons License — this site is for charitable purposes in funding cat rescue.
- Third photo down – license: creative commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Sources:
- As stated in text
- Red List
- Wikipedia
If you add to our knowledge of this wildcat please – Share it!
Introduction This is an article about the interaction between the lynx and humans at a conflict level. We know that every aspect of the lynx’s decline …
In times gone by the lynx was used for hunting as was the cheetah. In India at the time of the Maharajas both these beautiful wildcats were tamed.
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