The lynx belongs to the cat family and is a carnivorous mammal.

It weighs between 18 and 32 kilograms, with a body length of 90 to 130 centimeters and a tail length of only 11 to 24 centimeters.

It has long, agile limbs, broad ears with black-tipped tufts, a short and blunt tail, and long, drooping tufts on both cheeks. The winter coat is long and dense, with a pink-brown color on the back and darker in the central part. The abdominal fur is lighter, yellow-white, with a gray-brown base. The area around the eyes turns white, with 2-3 rows of distinct brown-black longitudinal stripes on the cheeks.

The tufts are dirty white with interspersed brown-black long hair. Brown spots are scattered on the back, especially around the waist and buttocks. The fur on the back of the limbs is the same as on the back, while the spots on the abdomen are darker than on the back.

Lynxes are cold-loving animals that inhabit a diverse range of environments, from subarctic coniferous forests and temperate coniferous-broadleaf mixed forests to alpine meadows, high-altitude grasslands, high-altitude shrub grasslands, cold deserts, and semi-deserts. They live in forested scrub areas and are commonly found in dense forests and on mountain rocks.

They prefer solitary living, are skilled climbers and swimmers, have muscular hunger endurance, can lie quietly in one place for days, are not afraid of severe cold, and prey on rodents, hares, small wild boars, and fawns. They build nests in rock crevices, caves, or tree hollows. Each litter consists of 2-4 cubs.

Lynxes are widely distributed in Europe and northern Asia and are Romania's national animal. There are four main species of lynx: Eurasian lynx, Canadian lynx, Iberian lynx, and bobcat.

The bobcat has relatively short ear tufts and a blunt and round-tipped tail that is white. It is considered the earliest species to diverge within the lynx genus and is mainly concentrated in North America. It exhibits strong adaptability to habitats and overlaps with the habitat of the Canadian lynx along the Canada-US border, resulting in hybridization between the two species.

The bobcat has a diverse diet, primarily preying on lagomorphs, rodents, and birds. In winter, many bobcats hunt white-tailed and black-tailed deer as alternative prey when snowshoe hares are scarce.

Among all the feline species, lynxes have the most specialized prey, especially the Iberian and Canadian lynx.

The Iberian lynx has long limbs, about half the size of the Eurasian lynx, with short and coarse fur and denser and darker spots. The remaining two populations are found in Spain and Portugal, living in the mixed forests of the Mediterranean with scrub, oak, and olive trees. It is highly specialized in diet and was once endangered due to a sharp decline in the European rabbit population.

The Canadian lynx has the most enormous hind feet in the lynx genus, with significantly longer hind limbs than forelimbs, resulting in a more pronounced rump. It is mainly distributed in southern Canada and the northern United States, being highly selective in habitat and only appearing in coniferous forests and other forested areas.

The Canadian lynx is heavily dependent on the snowshoe hare, constituting two-thirds of its prey, and occasionally preying on the offspring of ungulates when snowshoe hare numbers decrease, making their population much more significant than os 0

the Iberian lynx.

The Eurasian lynx is the largest in the lynx genus, almost twice the size of the Iberian lynx.

Like other lynxes, the Eurasian lynx has brown spots on its body, but its fur color is more diverse, including silver-gray, pale yellow, light brown, and reddish-brown. The winter coat is more lightweight than in summer but longer and thicker, allowing them to endure the cold winter.

The Eurasian lynx is widely distributed in vast temperate forested areas, spanning the entire northern Eurasian continent. It has strong habitat tolerance, surviving well in temperate forests, open woodlands, sparsely vegetated rocky mountain areas, and cold deserts.

However, like all large cats, their beautiful fur makes them constant targets for hunters; excessive habitat development leads to continuous habitat reduction, and overhunting by humans results in food shortages, constantly threatening their survival conditions.

If one day humans interfere too much with lynxes, they too will disappear forever, like other species.