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Lynx

A Characteristic Cat: As a member of the cat family, lynx share many of the same characteristics as other cats, such as tigers, jaguars, leopards and even the family cat, acute hearing, sharp eyesight and excellent climbing ability.

The Spanish Lynx: Humans have had a profound effect on the status of lynx in the wild. The Spanish lynx once roamed over large parts of the Iberian Peninsula, possibly as far north as the Pyrenees. Today, they are very rare and can only be found in restricted and confined wetlands of southwest Europe. The Spanish lynx is now protected by law.

The Eurasian Lynx: The Eurasian lynx made its ancestral home in mixed forests. Due to human activity this East Asian animal has been forced to find new ways of living in open woods and on rocky mountain slopes. Even with conservation efforts, the lynx is struggling because of hunting by farmers, who view them as pests, road kills and a mysterious loss of male cubs possibly caused by a genetic problem.

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MORE LYNX

SPECIES: Meet the Iberian Lynx

QUIZ: Night Cat Quiz

DID YOU KNOW?

Honed in on Hares: The Canadian lynx depends almost exclusively on the snowshoe hare as prey. A regular fluctuation in the snowshoe hare population every 10 years directly impacts the lynx.

Nature's Snow Shoes: The lynx's large, padded paws are an adaptation to walking on snow, which allows them to travel and hunt in their snowy, high altitude habitats.