Eurasian Line Lynx: Physical Traits, Behavior, and Conservation Risks

The Eurasian line (the Altogardesan one) reaches larger dimensions, especially in Russian East, compared to other species: the Canadian, the Pardina (reduced to a few specimens living in the Iberian Peninsula), and the Red line (like the Canadian, confined to North and Central America).

It weighs between 18 and 22 kilograms and measures between 80 and 130 centimeters in length, with a characteristic short tail. Height: 55-70 centimeters. Color: from gray to cream, to reddish.

Physical characteristics and behavior

Characteristic features include (like all lynxes) tufts of hair, about 4 centimeters long, on the tips of the ears and the “beard” on the cheeks. Compared to other animals, the line appears to be of a size intermediate between a fox and a deer.

The range of the line could create alarm among hunters: it is, in fact, a carnivore. From this point of view, experts provide assurances: the line will always be a rare and little-spread species, since each specimen moves (without considering the presence of others) over territories that extend on average at least one hundred square kilometers.

In practice, prey that could be attacked and killed falls within the “annual oscillations of causes of natural death.” Not to mention the fact that the species has returned precisely because the number of ungulates has increased.

Risks and management tools

And if the carnivore targeted goats or sheep? It does not seem so easy. In any case, the Region, the Province, and the Mountain Community are considering the system of compensation for any damages.