The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is a medium-sized wild cat native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas.It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an elevation of 5,500 m (18,000 ft). We’re looking at wild wolves, this is truly unbelievable. From historical hunting archives, we know that in the 17th to the 19th century, both ungulates and lynxes were far less common in Belarus (at that time Great Lithuania). In the first case, a lynx female with three kittens just started eating on their kill, a roe deer, when a pack of six wolves chased the lynxes in birch trees; consumed the kill entirely, and stayed around the birch trees, where the lynx family was sitting; however, none of the lynxes were wounded or killed. However, wolves sometimes scare lynxes away from their kills, which is also an essential part of the on-going interference between wolves and lynxes in Belarus. In recent years lynx numbers have increased markedly in the Naliboki Forest: from 22 in 2013-2014 to at least 60 in 2016-2017 (part of the forest wasn’t censused in detail in this winter). We photo-documented a fight between a not very big and quite old male lynx (older than 8 years) and a (not small) adult male wolf. What a thrill! Pepijn is following the tracks in the opposite direction. Another evident trend in the wolf denning behaviour in Naliboki Forest is the increasing use of burrows to place pups during their first days, perhaps, as an attempt to save the pups from attacks of the above-mentioned inimical animals,  first of all, the lynx. However, local prey availability was not published in most of the dietary studies and thus could not be taken into account in the meta-analysis. They also tested whether lynxes would increase their home-range size due to exploitative competition with wolves, this turned out not to be the case. So, before 2015 the wolf population in Naliboki Forest was considerably more stable and wolf packs were mainly of family origin (Sidorovich, 2016). The hind legs and one of the forelegs is still present as well as part of the chest, but the head is nowhere to be found. Although Eurasian lynxes and grey wolves are two large carnivores that are sympatric in large parts of their range, few researchers have studied both species simultaneously in the same study area. They live in packs in the cold season (from late september until mid-April) and even then many wolves walk around alone. Indeed, a lynx will never attack a wolf pack. However we do not claim that lynxes are dominant over wolves in all circumstances. Uncia. In general (there’ll be exceptions), lynx do not want to fight wolves, which means they don’t think they’ll win. Intensive camera-trapping in Naliboki Forest in 2015-2017 suggests that, at least, a part of such emigrated breeders comes back to their previous territories in the next autumn, but still it is hard to say what the reproductive efficiency of such breeders is. The majority of yearlings that are chased away from the new denning site by their parents walk alone, even if there are several of them. Registration of these events are easiest in winter during snow tracking, however it’s reasonable to assume this phenomenon mostly happens in winter, when competition over food is more severe and wolves are mostly in packs and have the upper hand on lynxes. Unfortunately, despite a large potential for interesting information on denning by lynxes (17 female lynxes were radio collared and survival of 33 lynx litters was assessed), details about the den locations and physical nature of the dens are absent in the publication. Chairman of SongBird Survival, Threepwood, Galashiels. The second trend in the denning by wolves in Naliboki Forest is the increasing use of pine stands as a main denning habitat type. So, by near consideration lynxes have plenty of opportunities to kill wolves. from mid-May until mid-September). we finally learned the following. Ever. A pack of four wolves approaching a dead tree, where female and male lynxes had marked previously by urinating. In the early winter of 2015-2018 in Naliboki Forest and the surrounding forest-agriculture mosaic (an area of about 2700 km²), there were 40-46 wolves . In fact, a lynx will never attack a wolf pack. Learn more about the behavior and habitat of lynx in this article. The diversified Belarusian forests of today, particularly the Naliboki Forest, clearly favour lynxes over wolves. The wolf population persists, not because of it’s reproduction, but due to immigration from adjacent rural areas with fewer lynxes. Filmed with a remote camera by SWS during White Wilderness 2011. So, evidently these recent changes in wolf population dynamics are connected with lynx interference. Wolf population density in early winter varied from 0.9 to 2.5, with mean of 1.8/100 km². Even a large adult male lynx would expose itself to  serious risk of being killed, if it tried to fight with a wolf pack. Usually, Lynx prefer to live in forests, and it will hunt rabbits quite exclusively, but Bobcats have different diet regimen and a different a behaviour when compared to the lynx. Besides attacks of adult lynxes on lone weakened wolves we faced with scaring lynxes away from their kills by wolf packs and consuming of the kills. In the first decade of the 2000s and early 2010s, 72% of the  wolf dens, which were found by us  in Naliboki Forest (mostly without pups, recent ones, n=736 dens), were found in treefalls. Over the years 1999-2014, the number of wolf packs varied between 6 and 14, and the number of wolves between 27 and 70. Nevertheless, when the wolves were absent at the red deer remnants, the lynx returned to the kill to feed. During these months, wolf pups can easily be killed by lynxes. Wolf kills benefit three times more species than human hunting kills. Only once during longer than 30 years being in Naliboki Forest we registered crossing of the fairly wide opening (about 400 meters) by adult male lynx. Numerous proverbs also depict the wolf as a bloodthirsty killer, especially as one that kills more lambs than he can … Despite its wide distribution, it is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching and depletion of prey. ... such as the wolf, can have upon its wider environment. In attempt to study these relations, researchers tend to analyse spatial data from telemetry or census data with computer software. Some mammalogists tend to assume that wolves suppress the lynx population. But it’s all very enjoyable to see where these lynxes have passed before us. We undertook a lot of efforts to find the new denning locations of the wolves, but we didn’t find anything that suggested new attempts to den inside the forest. Uncia. To assess competition over food between wolves and lynxes, a meta-analysis of 15 dietary studies on Eurasian lynxes and Grey wolves in Europe was carried out (Lelieveld, 2013). The bear, on the other hand, has been known to attack  and even kill  humans in modern times. The authors concluded that the intensity of interference and exploitation between wolves and lynxes was low. The lynxes started consuming the roe deer. How many time had passed? In recent years, lynx numbers have increased markedly in Naliboki Forest: from 22 in 2013-2014, more than 40 since 2015 to about 85 in 2017-2018. Representatives from Native American tribes with reservations in Wisconsin said they consider the wolf … Lynx are small cats when compared with tigers and lions. During these months wolf pups can easily be killed by lynxes. During the first decade of the 2000’s and early 2010’s only about  6%  of the wolf dens, which were found by us (mostly without pups, recent ones, n=736 dens), were situated in pine stands. We photo-documented a fight between a not very big and quite old male lynx (older than 8 years) and a (not small) adult male wolf. The tracks of Vieranika and the kittens are clearly visible and near the road we see a few small marking places from the mother (rubbing small trees). As the telemetry study was not combined with camera trapping and track inspection, we don’t know how the studied lynxes and wolves really interacted and how they affected each other’s behaviour, something that we cannot learn through spatial analysis of telemetry data alone. 2010). The forests back then were a lot less disturbed and had a more primeval character. 1997). It is partly the same results as in the above, but there are more details, more discussion on the question and our inferences. This switch in the used denning habitats by wolves may be explained merely by potentially less disturbance of breeding wolves by lynxes (also by bison, elk and red deer stags, which number got higher in the last years too) in pine stands, because these habitats are poor in food and poorly structured and thus markedly less frequently used by species that are hazardous to denning wolves. ( Log Out /  Suddenly Els whispers: “Hans, straight ahead, something is standing there…” One hundred meters in front of us, partly hidden between the birch trees, we see a red-brown back and the base of a bushy tail. Wolves on the other hand, were common. In Naliboki Forest, which has very similar ecological structure of the terrain, while comparing with the Huimmaa’s one, we registered such a lynx behaviour very rare, actually several times per a year only. Indeed, even a large adult male lynx would expose itself to serious risk of being killed if it tried to fight with a wolf pack. Animals in Canada: Mammals. Impact of lynx on wolf reproduction, pack composition, immigration and emigration. Moreover, the authors point out that we should be aware of the small sample size and the fact that the whole populations of both predators weren’t monitored in the study area. Camera trap images can also show us the body-language of lynx and wolf, giving clues about their interspecific relations (e.g. Would the carcass still be there? Social behaviour in lynxes in non-mating season, Using of cavity-shelters by Eurasian lynxes in Belarus as non-rocky forested region, Snowtracking of attack on brown bear by five wolves, Summary on the wolf triple-breeding group that we traced in 2020 and partial split in the pack by late autumn, Video summary on wolf reproduction, Naliboki Forest, 2020, One more documentation of tree climbing by lynx, New findings on warm-season behaviour and ecology in Eurasian lynx. To study lynx-wolf interference through telemetry means having both wolves and lynxes (radio/GPS) collared in the same study area; as stated before this requires a huge effort and investment. We photo-documented a  fight  between a (not very big and quite old, i.e. Colin Strang Steel. What would happen? In the Polish part of  Bielaviezha Forest, 214 carcasses were inspected for a study on carcass use by scavengers. Lynx females appeared to use  the same local area for denning before and after wolf establishment. the terrain appeared to be densely occupied by lynxes that are aggressive to wolf denning), one to three of us worked for 25-30 days and found several hundreds of wolf dens including 2 to 5 actual ones i.e. The Canada lynx and the bobcat live in North America. We leave Pepijn, imagining what it would be like: all alone in the forest, only accompanied by the silence and sounds of this big wilderness. Is it possible to distinguish the golden jackal by tracks? A hungry lynx might eat a whole hare for one meal, while others will eat some and hide the rest for later. In the denning season of 2018 the same wolf breeding group started preparing dens in mid-April in the Rabachova locality again, but then, after facing with lynx presence in the denning habitats and after the experiences of lynxes killing their pups during previous breeding seasons, they seemed to escape out of the forest massive. Moreover, we got convinced that an adult lynx, especially a big male  can win a fight from any lone wolf. However the lynxes stayed not far away, and when Els and Hans scared the wolves, and we left the place, the lynx family returned to the roe deer carcass and consumed it almost all during one night. Those openings originated from the former marshlands and the opening structure included roads and drainage canals with willow bushes and few birth trees nearby. Here we would like to share an outstanding case of kleptoparasitism where a lynx family was scared away from their kill by two wolves. But the wolves lift their head again, look in our direction, smell the air and fly. While the cats can appear large in photos, Jim Zelenak, a biologist with the U.S. Who would come back tonight? In those rare cases only adult males took the liberty to walk in opening, but not faraway from the forested edges (not further than 50 meters from the forested edge). In the introduction the authors state that they expected that competition between the two species would be high and assymetrical, based on the prediction that interference competition between carnivores is highest between species with intermediate differences in body-size (Donadio and Buskirk, 2006). I disagree the Lynx doesn't have the tool to kill a Wolverine; I actually think it has some chances to win, but it must be really really focused and avoid any waste of energy, because it's gonna be a long fight. Before the fight we photographed this easily recognizable wolf frequently, five minutes after the fight the clearly wounded wolf was photographed one more last time. ill) individuals, small subadults or even just any not a big wolf that is walking alone. A ranged weapon can be used or players can corner them near a wall or a tree for a melee kill. Does this necessarily mean there is no interference competition between the two predators, as suggested by some researchers? In contrast, we found several wolf pups of various age and pregnant wolves killed by lynx. We couldn't believe our luck. Some mammalogists tend to assume that wolves suppress the lynx population. After a while wolf tracks appear from the opposite direction and close to the lynx track. These tracks weren’t here yesterday evening, so it’s unlikely we’ll find better ones! Statistical analysis of the spatial data showed that lynxes and wolves neither avoided nor attracted each other (Schmidt et al., 2009), which made the authors conclude that wolves and lynxes co-exist peacefully in the Bieloviezha Forest, due to niche separation and heterogeneity of the habitats. Short answer: Yes. Besides our own studies on the topic, which have already partly been published (Sidorovich and Rotenko 2018), we found only two studies that attempted to specifically investigate interspecific interactions between lynxes and wolves in the wild (Schmidt et al. Can a lynx kill a wolf? immigration of wolves in January-February. Materials, data and other information sources in relation to the statement. This first case was reconstructed by following recent signs left by all those animals on the snow cover. They live in packs in the cold season (from late September until mid-April) and even then many wolves walk around alone. Instead, it appears that male lynxes did kill wolves, especially young ones and even pregnant female wolves in Belarus. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! In fact, researchers even conclude that the lynx significantly lowers the the wolf reproduction rate in Belarus. We collected evidence that the opposite is actually true, at least in the dense forests of Belarus. No. However, if on private land, you can shoot and kill wolves that are in the act of killing, wounding or biting a domestic animal. WARNING: Yes the Wolves can kill your lynx I did an experiment today. By reading the available literature and talking to wolf and lynx researchers, it becomes evident that interference between the two species is actually poorly studied.