Success Stories

So what does Success mean anyway? How well you do on a test? How fast you ran the race? What kind of grades do I have to show my parents? YIKES!

Well, success for an animal species can mean different things, just like the answers to the above questions can mean different things. Sometimes success means how well a particular animal is doing which can be measured by numbers or by health or by survival rates. Success can also be measured by the number of young an animal has or by how well the young can survive to adulthood.

Awesome Lynx Facts

An adult male collared lynx in the Wyoming Range, Wyoming, moved north into Yellowstone National Park during 3 consecutive summers, traveling more than 700 km (approx. 435 miles)!

For the Canada Lynx success often is measured by the number of individuals in particular areas. The lynx is a large predator which requires a large area for hunting, roaming, and raising their kittens. Timber harvesting and thinning of the forests often affect the areas where lynx like to live. Changes to their habitat will drive them away to find different forested areas that have more cover, food, and seclusion. These types of areas are becoming more and more scarce therefore forest managers are trying to find ways to manage the forest to benefit both the lynx and the public.

Click on the link below to learn more:
http://www.rmrs.nau.edu/wildlife/forest_carnivores/lynx/research/sustaining_habitat.php

Threats to the Lynx:

Lynx become more vulnerable to predation during the snow free months when the lack of snow allows lions and other predators into higher elevation lynx habitats. Mountain lions accounted for all but one known case of predation, and 14 of 15 predation events occurred between spring and fall. Typically, mountain lions puncture a lynx's skull with their canines (leaving a diagnostic dentition pattern) and often leave scat, tracks, or hair at the kill site.

Lynx skull showing puncture holes from a mountain lion.