Canada Lynx
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Order
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More Information
Physical Description
Canada lynx have long and dense fur, triangular ears with black tufts at the tips, and snowshoe-like paws. Their back legs are longer than the front legs, causing their back to slope downward to the front. They can reach nearly two feet tall and weigh up to 35 pounds. These felines are good swimmers and agile climbers. Specialist predators, Canada lynxes almost exclusively hunt snowshoe hares, and they mainly hunt at night when their prey is most active. Individual lynx, particularly of the same sex, tend to avoid each other, forming “intrasexual” territories..
Interesting Fact 1
Lynx stay in the same territory all year and have to find food in the winter.
Interesting Fact 2
The tufts on their ears may aid their hearing or help them detect objects above their head.
Interesting Fact 3
Their large paws act like snowshoes and keep them from sinking into the snow when they hunt.
Caring for Carnivores
Pepper Family Wildlife Center, Lincoln Park Zoo’s new home for African lions and other carnivores, is coming soon! The renovation of this state-of-the-art space, guided by years of behavioral data, includes habitat features that promote positive animal welfare.
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Wildlife face many daunting challenges—some global, like planet-wide climate change, and some that affect individuals, like an animal ingesting plastic—but now is not the time to despair. None of these problems are too big for us to come together and solve.
