Comprehensive Report Species - Lynx canadensis Page 1 of 13 << Previous | Next >> View Glossary Lynx canadensis - Kerr, 1792 Canadian Lynx Other Related Name(s): Felis canadensis ;Felis lynx canadensis ;Felis lynx Related ITIS Name(s): Lynx canadensis Kerr, 1792 (TSN 180585) Unique Identifier: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102126 Element Code: AMAJH03010 Informal Taxonomy: Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Carnivores © 1992 Don Getty View image report from CalPhoto Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Animalia Craniata Mammalia Carnivora Felidae Lynx Genus Size: B - Very small genus (2-5 species) Check this box to expand all report sections: Concept Reference Concept Reference: Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Second Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/. Concept Reference Code: B93WIL01NAUS Name Used in Concept Reference: Lynx canadensis Taxonomic Comments: Placed in the genus Felis by some authors. Some authors regard L. lynx, L. canadensis, and L. pardinus as conspecific (see Tumlison 1987). Jones et al. (1992) treated L. canadensis and L. lynx as conspecific. Baker et al. (2003) amd Wozencraft (in Wilson and Reeder 1993, 2005) recognized L. canadensis (North America), L. lynx (Eurasia), and L. pardinus (Portugal, Spain) as separate species. Conservation Status NatureServe Status Global Status: G5 Global Status Last Reviewed: 21Feb2000 Global Status Last Changed: 19Nov1996 Rounded Global Status: G5 - Secure Reasons: Large range in northern North America; declines have occurred in some populations, but apparently still widespread and relatively abundant in most of historic range, though population data are lacking for many areas; habitat loss/fragmentation and susceptibility to overharvest are the major concerns. In the contiguous U.S., overall numbers and range are substantially reduced from historical levels. At present, numbers have not recovered from overexploitation by both regulated and unregulated harvest that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Forest management practices that result in the loss of diverse age structure, fragmentation, roading, urbanization, agriculture, recreational developments, and unnatural fire frequencies have altered suitable habitat in many areas. As a result, many states may have insufficient habitat quality and/or quantity to sustain lynx or their prey. Human access into habitat has increased dramatically over the last few decades contributing to direct and indirect mortality and displacement from suitable habitat. Although legal take is highly restricted, existing regulatory http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?sourceTemplate=tabular_report.w... 5/1/2012 Comprehensive Report Species - Lynx canadensis Page 2 of 13 mechanisms may be inadequate to protect small, remnant populations or to conserve habitat. Competition with bobcats and coyotes may be a concern in some areas. Nation: United States National Status: N4? Nation: Canada National Status: N5 (11Jan2000) U.S. & Canada State/Province Status Alaska (S4), Colorado (S1), Idaho (S1), Indiana (SX), Maine (S2), Massachusetts (SX), Michigan (S1), Minnesota (SNR), United Montana (S3), Nevada (SX), New Hampshire (S1), New York (SX), North Dakota (SU), Ohio (SX), Oregon (S1?), States Pennsylvania (SX), Utah (S1), Vermont (S1?), Washington (S1), Wyoming (S1) Alberta (S4), British Columbia (S4), Labrador (S4), Manitoba (S5), New Brunswick (S1), Newfoundland Island (S3S4), Canada Northwest Territories (SNR), Nova Scotia (S1), Nunavut (SNR), Ontario (S5), Prince Edward Island (SX), Quebec (S5), Saskatchewan (S5), Yukon Territory (S5) Other Statuses Implied Status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act: PS:LT U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Lead Region: R6 - Rocky Mountain Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC): Not at Risk (01May2001) IUCN Red List Category: LC - Least concern Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Protection Status (CITES): Appendix II Comments on official statuses: USFWS (Federal Register, 26 August 1994) found that federal listing of the North American population may be warranted and initiated a formal status review. USFWS (Federal Register, 27 May 1997) determined that listing of the contiguous U.S. population is warranted but precluded by other higher priority actions. USFWS (Federal Register, 8 July 1998) proposed listing the U.S. lower 48 population segment as threatened. USFWS (Federal Register, 8 July 1999) extended for not more than six months a decision to list the contiguous United State population segment as a threatened species; this extension was made to allow time to resolve a dispute over the status of the U.S. lower 48 lynx population. USFWS (2000) determined threatened status for the contiguous U.S. distinct population segment of L. canadensis. USFWS (2006) designated critical habitat for the contiguous U.S. distinct population segment. In total, approximately 1.841 square miles (4,768 square kilometers) fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designation, in three units in the States of Minnesota, Montana and Washington (Federal Register, 9 November 2006). NatureServe Global Conservation Status Factors Range Extent: >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) Range Extent Comments: Throughout Alaska and Canada (except arctic islands) south through the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Lakes region, and northern New England. Also northern Eurasia if regarded as conspecific with LYNX LYNX (=FELIS LYNX). See U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1998) for information on distribution and relative abundance in the contiguous U.S. Considered historically resident in 16 states represented by five ecologically distinct regions: Cascade Range (Washington, Oregon), northern Rocky Mountains (northeastern Washington, southeastern Oregon, Idaho, Montana, western Wyoming, northern Utah), southern Rocky Mountains (southeastern Wyoming, Colorado), northern Great Lakes (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan ), and northern New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts). Resident populations currently exist only in Maine, Montana, Washington, and possibly Minnesota; considered extant but no longer sustaining self-support populations in Wisconsin, Michigan, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado; may be extirpated from New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1998). See Stardom (1988 COSEWIC report) for information on distribution and relative abundance in Canada, where still widespread and relatively abundant in most of historic range. See USFWS (2000) for a state-by-state review of historical and current distribution. Number of Occurrences: 81 to >300 Number of Occurrences Comments: Unknown, but numerous--Nearctic (or Holarctic) distribution. Population Size: 10,000 to >1,000,000 individuals Population Size Comments: Total population size is unknown, but it varies cyclically with availability of food; total probably is at least in the hundreds of thousands during population peaks, based on annual harvests in Canada that periodically exceed 50,000 (Nowak 1991). British Columbia population was estimated to vary between 200,000 and 250,000 (Goodchild and Munro 1980). See Stardom (1988 COSEWIC report) for information on status in Canada. In the contiguous U.S., total population size is unknown, but probably less than 2,000. Colorado: only 18 positive recordrds; none since 1973; proposing to reintroduce lynx (Colorado Division of Wildlife 1997). Idaho: less than 100 individuals (C. Harris, pers. comm., 1997). Maine: less than 200 individuals (C. McLaughlin, pers. comm., 1997). Oregon: perhaps fewer than 75 individuals (E. Gaines, pers. comm., 1997). Utah: very rare, few if any extant occurrences (G. Oliver, pers. comm., 1997). Montana: 740-1040 individuals (B. Giddings, pers. comm., 1998). Washington: 72-191 individuals (Washington Department of Wildlife 1993, Washington Department of Natural Resources 1996). Wyoming: less than 100 individuals (B. Oakleaf, pers. comm., 1998). Periodic increases in lynx numbers may be accentuated by dispersal of transient animals from Canadian populations (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1998). It has been suggested that, because lynx occurrence throughout much of the continguous U.S. is on the southern periphery of the species' range, the presence of lynx is solely a consequence of dispersal from Canada and that most of the U.S. may never have supported self-sustaining, resident populations over time (U.S. Fish and Wildlife http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?sourceTemplate=tabular_report.w... 5/1/2012 Comprehensive Report Species - Lynx canadensis Page 3 of 13 Service 1998). Overall Threat Impact Comments: In determining threatened status for the contiguous U.S. distinct population segment, USFWS (2000) cited the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms. "Current U.S. Forest Service Land and Resource Management Plans include programs, practices, and activities within the authority and jurisdiction of federal land management agencies that may threaten lynx or lynx habitat. The lack of protection for lynx in these plans render[s] them inadequate to protect the species" (USFWS 2000). Past extensive logging that eliminated habitat for lynx and snowshoe hare was detrimental. Habitat has been lost due to suppression of forest fires and ecological succession to