Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative

The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) reaches its southern range limit in the mountains of 

Colorado and southern Wyoming.  In the continuous boreal forests of Canada and Alaska lynx 

populations are widespread and stable (Quinn and Parker 1987).  Boreal forests attenuate in the 

Central and Southern Rocky Mountains, where they occur only on discrete mountain ranges 

separated by dry shrub- and grass-dominated basins.  Populations of boreo-alpine vertebrates like 

lynx are similarly fragmented in this region (Beauvais 2000).  There is concern that populations of 

lynx in the contiguous United States are vulnerable to habitat limitations and lack of regulatory 

mechanisms to protect them.  Consequently the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued 

a final rule listing the contiguous United States Distinct Populations Segment (DPS) of Canada 

lynx as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2000 (Federal Register Volume 63, 

No. 130). 

Canada lynx depend strongly on snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) as a food source, 

especially in northern portions of lynx range where both species are well-studied.  The ecology of 

lynx in the southern portion of their range is rather poorly-known, but appears to be rather 

different.  Differences center on the use of alternative prey; the effect of habitat patchiness on 

movements, reproduction, and survival; and the effects of predators and competitors (Aubry et al. 

2000).