Woman combs and cuddles an enormous Eurasian lynx (video)
Woman cuddles an enormous Eurasian lynx. Screenshot from video.
We are not told what species of cat this is so I’ll speculate. I believe that this large wild cat is a Eurasian lynx. If I’m correct then the video was probably made in Russia. It is also likely that the cat has been raised from newborn or as a kitten. This has completely socialised the cat. In short the cat is as domesticated as a cat of this type can be. I have seen other instances of lynx and bobcats being domesticated and treated as pets in households. They obviously have a character which lends itself to being domesticated.
Why a Eurasian lynx?
The Eurasian lynx are the largest of the bob-tailed cats. They can measure a metre in total length (this cat is bigger than that) and may weigh as much as 38 kg (83 pounds). This cat looks as if (s)he weighs about that. By contrast, bobcats are much lighter. An adult male record weight for a bobcat is 26.8 kg. Bobcats in Oklahoma can weigh around 9 kg. The other lynx species is the Canada Lynx which are described as medium-sized cats weighing approximately 8 to 11 kg. You can see why I have decided that the cat in the video is a Eurasian lynx because he is quite definitely much heavier than the weights are described for bobcats and Canada lynx.
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Dangers
The comments under the video are interesting. When people see this video they are a little anxious about the inherent danger of the interaction between cat and person. The cat is very friendly as is the person and the relationship is wonderful. However, a cat of this size and strength can do harm inadvertently with his claws or teeth. You never quite know whether casual play in a friendly manner can trigger something more in the cat at which point the cat forgets he is playing and goes into attack mode. This is because play for a cat is centred around attacking and killing. That, for me, is where the danger is. Nonetheless, it looks as though this won’t happen in this instance mainly because the woman understands the issues and controls the cuddles well.
Home range and prey
Because the cat is as domesticated as he can be I suspect that he does not feel the discomfort in being captive or it is lessened. I say this because cats of this species demand anything between 20 to 2,000 km² in terms of their home range. Often cats of this type demand a home range around 200 km². This is the big problem which underscores all captive cats. They need space and they don’t get it in captivity.
Whereas Canada lynx and bobcats prey on quite small mammals such as hares, this species kills ungulates (hoofed animals) ranging in size from the 15 kg musk deer to 220-kilogram adult male red deer but they show a preference for the smallest ungulate species in the community where they are hunting. This confirms the size and power of this cat. Although they also kill smaller animals such as piglets, pheasants, squirrels, hares and marmots. In Sweden, Eurasian lynx are reported to kill a roe deer every six days.
Persecuted – threats
You can see that this cat has wonderful fur which is why the species was eradicated from many parts of their former range in Europe because of intense hunting for their fur and because they were considered a threat to other wildlife populations. This species is still present in large areas of Eastern Europe and Mongolia but they are most prevalent in Russia, Sweden and Norway.
Current threats at 2020 are agriculture and aquaculture meaning livestock farming and ranching, annual and perennial non-timber crops and wood and pulp plantations. You can also include mining and quarrying which damages habitat and the building of roads and railroads which criss-cross their habitat.
In addition, there is still hunting and trapping and of course the usual logging and harvesting of forests which also damages their habitat.
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