Atlas der Säugetiere Nordrhein-Westfalens

Luchs

58 entries

Eurasian lynx

Rote Liste NRW: R durch extreme Seltenheit (potentiell) gefährdet

  entry

Lynx lynx

The European Lynx is Europe′s largest cat species. It is about as large as a German Shepherd. Ear tufts, a cheek ruff, a short tail with a black tip and the reddish-brown or grey-brown fur with black spots clearly distinguish it from the Eurasian Wild Cat. Lynx preferably hunt mid-sized mammals. In Germany the Roe Deer provides the food base. Under cover the lynx stalks his prey and kills it by a bite in the throat. With its long legs and large paws the Lynx can easily move in snow, tracks, droppings and prey remains then easily betray its presence. Lynx avoid humans and are usually active at night. For this reason it is rarely possible to observe Lynx, but they are not as shy as previously assumed. Upon encounters with humans they slowly retreat under cover. Lynx live in large closed forests. But during long distance movements they also move through semi-open landscapes with hedges and forest islands. The territories of individual animals are extremely large, often clearly larger than 100 square kilometres. Up to two female lynx live in the territory of one male. To raise her young a Lynx female requires protected hiding places between rocks or under fallen trees.

The Lynx was eradicated in NRW in the early 18th century. At that time the species disappeared from all of Central Europe. Since the 1970s Lynx were reintroduced in several areas in Central Europe. A low reproductive rate with high juvenile mortality, road kills, and illegal persecution complicate the stabilization of populations and the build-up of new populations. Aside from a Lynx of unknown origin illegally shot in Rhein-Sieg County in the year 1996, there have been reports of free-roaming Lynx in NRW only since 1985. Records of individual Lynx were obtained from the Arnsberg Forest (1999, 2004), the Northern Eifel (2003-2005), the Rothaar Mountains (2006, 2011) and the Teutoburg Forest (2008-2014).

Author

Ingrid Hucht-Ciorga

Citation

Hucht-Ciorga I (2025): Luchs (Lynx_lynx).In: AG Säugetierkunde NRW — Online-Atlas of the mammals of North Rhine-Westphalia. Downloaded from saeugeratlas-nrw.lwl.org on 2025/04/01