Lynx canadensis
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) or Canadian lynx is one of the four living species in the genus Lynx. It is a medium-sized wild cat characterized by long, dense fur, triangular ears with black tufts at the tips, and broad, snowshoe-like paws. Its hindlimbs are longer than the forelimbs, so its back slopes downward to the front. The Canada lynx stands 48–56 cm (19–22 in) tall at the shoulder and weighs between 5 and 17 kg (11 and 37 lb). It is a good swimmer and an agile climber.
The Canada lynx was first described by Robert Kerr in 1792. Three subspecies have been proposed, but their validity is doubted; it is mostly considered a monotypic species. It ranges across Alaska, Canada and northern areas of the contiguous United States, where it predominantly inhabits dense boreal forests.
It is a specialist predator and depends heavily on the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) for food. This leads to a prey-predator cycle, as the Canada lynx population responds to the cyclic rises and falls in snowshoe hare populations over the years in Alaska and central Canada. The Canada lynx population increases with an increasing hare population; if the hare population decreases in a given area, it moves to areas with more hares and has fewer offspring. The Canada lynx hunts mainly around twilight, or at night, when the snowshoe hare tends to be active. The Canada lynx waits for the hare on specific trails or in "ambush beds", then pounces on it and kills it by a bite on its head, throat or the nape of its neck. Individuals, particularly of the same sex, tend to avoid each other, forming "intrasexual" territories. The mating season is roughly a month long from March to early April. After a gestation of two to three months, females give birth to a litter of one to eight kittens, which are weaned at the age of 12 weeks.
Given its abundance throughout the range and lack of severe threats, the Canada lynx has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is regularly trapped for the international fur trade in most of Alaska and Canada but is protected in the southern half of its range due to threats such as habitat loss. Wikipedia →
Call0:07
United States · 2008
© Paul Driver · XC961784 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:30
Canada · 2023
© nacht_flug · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:54
Canada · 2024
© Rich Russell · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Katmai National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Gros Morne National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 4 | Ecomuseum Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Yukon Wildlife Preserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Northwest Trek Wildlife Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Zoo Sauvage de St-Félicien | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Minnesota Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Cheyenne Mountain Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Louisville Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Bear Country USA | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Calgary Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 16 | ZooMontana | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Fort Wayne Children's Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Riverview Park & Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 19 | Edmonton Valley Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 20 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 23 | Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Lincoln Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | John Ball Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Thompson Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 27 | Alaska Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 28 | Lehigh Valley Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 29 | Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Queens Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 31 | Racine Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 32 | Seneca Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 33 | Stone Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 34 | Salisbury Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | Buttonwood Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 37 | Utica Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 38 | Trevor Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 39 | Zoo Koki (Parque zoológico y botánico) | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 40 | Cosley Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 41 | Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory & Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 42 | Montreal Biodome | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 43 | West Coast Game Park Safari | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Canada Lynx sighting in Denali National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th most-seen of the 19 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and August
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Canada Lynx in Denali National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September, the lowest month. Those are among Denali National Park's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain a month against 45 mm in April. November to February have too few records to rate.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Canada Lynx sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Canada Lynx sightings, Denali National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Katmai National Park (United States, about 30%).
Same order: Carnivora
The closest relatives of the Canada Lynx that you can see in Denali National Park (order Carnivora, Carnivorans) are Brown Bear (about 80%), Red Fox (about 30%) and Gray Wolf (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Canada Lynx is recorded against all the mammals logged in Denali National Park (16 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
