Lynx Background and Recovery

Lynx have been eliminated from much of their historic range in the lower 48 states. Today small populations remain only in portions of Maine, the Great Lakes states, the northern Rockies/Cascades region, and Colorado – thanks to a reintroduction program.

See map

Lynx are unusual because their diet is primarily one thing – the snowshoe hare. If the hare populations plummet so do the lynx.  In addition, lynx depend on old growth forest the habitat for denning. So a mosaic of forest types – providing food for snowshoe hare and denning habitat is crucial for lynx populations.