Eurasian lynx: status, range, size and diet
The largest of the four lynx, a tufted-eared forest cat of Europe and northern Asia that has returned to several countries it had left.
Also known as Lynx lynx, northern lynx, European lynx
At a glance
| Scientific name | Lynx lynx |
|---|---|
| Group | Medium wild cats |
| Weight | About 7-32 kg; the heaviest are in Siberia |
| Length | Head and body about 73-106 cm, tail 11-25 cm |
| Known for | Black ear tufts and a short tail, and a comeback in Alpine and central European forests. |
Status
| IUCN Red List category | Least Concern |
|---|---|
| Assessed in | 2015 |
Where it lives
| Range | Northern, central and eastern Europe, across Siberia and Central Asia to the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalaya |
|---|---|
| Habitat | Boreal and temperate forest, rocky steppe and mountain forest |
| Diet | Roe deer, hares, grouse, marmots and, in the north, reindeer and other hoofed animals |
Main threats
- Habitat loss and fragmentation
- Illegal killing
- Loss of prey
- Road deaths in isolated populations
About
The Eurasian lynx is the biggest lynx and the third-largest predator in Europe after the brown bear and the wolf. It has long legs, large paws that act as snowshoes, a short tail with a black tip, ruffs of fur along the cheeks and the characteristic black tufts on its ears. The coat varies from reddish in the south to pale grey in the north and may be plain or spotted.
Lynx are solitary and secretive. Each adult holds a large territory. They are seldom seen, and evidence of their presence is more often a set of tracks, a kill or a camera-trap photo.
Where it lives and what it eats
Of the four lynx, this one has the widest range, stretching from Scandinavia and the Carpathians to the Russian Far East and the mountains of Central Asia. It lives in forest, but also uses open rocky country, and it cannot manage where snow lies deeper than about a metre. Lynx numbers are healthiest in Russia and parts of northern Europe, while western and central European populations are small and often isolated. Several subspecies are accepted, including the Carpathian, Balkan and Caucasian lynx.
A lynx ambushes or stalks its prey and kills by a bite to the throat. Roe deer are often the main food, with hares, birds and rodents making up the rest, and chamois, red deer and reindeer also taken. An adult needs roughly one to two kilograms of meat each day.
Threats and conservation
The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern worldwide, in an assessment completed in 2015, though several European populations are regionally threatened. The main problems are habitat loss, killing by people, a shortage of prey and roads that isolate groups, which leads to inbreeding. The Balkan subspecies is among the most precarious, with very few animals left.
Since the 1970s conservationists have released lynx in Switzerland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Germany and other countries, and the animals have spread back into suitable forest. A planned release in the Pyrenees was cancelled in 2016, and in 2025 lynx released illegally in Scotland were recaptured, which shows that the idea of restoring the species divides opinion.
Cats and people
Lynx kill sheep in some places, which makes them unpopular with some farmers, and compensation schemes exist in several countries. Attacks on people are almost unknown. Lynx fur was once valuable, and bounties such as the one paid in Norway until 1980 helped to push the animal out of much of western Europe. The species appears in folklore from Scandinavia to Siberia.
Profile last reviewed November 7, 2026