The Eurasian lynx inhabits rugged country providing plenty of hideouts and stalking opportunities. Depending on the locality, this may include rocky-steppe, mixed forest-steppe,
boreal forest, and
montane forest ecosystems. In the more mountainous parts of its range, Eurasian lynx descends to the lowlands in winter, following prey species and avoiding deep snow. Despite its adaptations for moving in snow, it finds loose, deep snow difficult to deal with and cannot survive in areas with snow depths exceeding . In
Norway, the Eurasian lynx was subjected to an official
bounty between 1846 and 1980 and could be hunted without license. In 1994, a compensation scheme for livestock killed by lynx was introduced. By 1996, the lynx population was estimated to comprise 410 individuals, decreased to fewer than 260 individuals in 2004 and increased since 2005 to about 452 mature individuals by 2008. In
Sweden, the lynx population was estimated at 1,400 individuals in 2006 and 1,250 in 2011. Hunting is controlled by government agencies. In
Finland, about 2,200–2,300 individuals were present according to a 2009 estimate. The lynx population in Finland has been increasing every year since 1991, and is estimated to be nowadays larger than ever before. Limited hunting is permitted. In 2009 the
Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry gave a permit for hunting of 340 lynx individuals.
Western Europe In
Great Britain,
subfossil remains of Eurasian lynx have been dated to the
early Middle Ages, and the 7th or 8th century Welsh poem
Dinogad's Smock likely makes reference to the presence of lynx in
Cumbria. It has been proposed to
reintroduce the lynx to the
Scottish Highlands and
Kielder Forest in
Northumberland. In January 2025, several lynxes were illegally released near
Kingussie in the
Cairngorms National Park; they were captured by the
Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and taken to the
Highland Wildlife Park and subsequently to
Edinburgh Zoo. A large lynx that hunted deer and livestock, sometimes called "
tiger" and "deer's wolf" (
llobu/lobo cerval), was also reported in
Green Spain until the 19th century. These accounts were traditionally regarded as references to
Iberian lynx (
Lynx pardinus), a smaller
endemic species of the
Iberian Peninsula. However,
genetic testing of remains showed that the Eurasian and Iberian lynx coexisted into recent times in the Iberian Peninsula with
little overlap, the Eurasian lynx being present in
temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and the Iberian lynx in
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub. The Eurasian lynx of Spain was a unique, extinct lineage more related to the Carpathian and Baltic subspecies. It was
genetically impoverished already in pre-Roman times, possibly because of
founder effect, which made it even more vulnerable to human persecution. The government of
Asturias studied the feasibility of Eurasian lynx reintroduction in 2019. In the
Catalonian
Pyrenees, the last Eurasian lynx was killed in the 1930s, though unconfirmed sightings continued until the 1990s. The
Síndic d'Aran planned a reintroduction in 2016 but canceled it due to the opposition of hunters and livestock farmers. In
Germany, the Eurasian lynx was exterminated in 1850. It was reintroduced to the
Bavarian Forest and the
Harz in the 1990s; other areas were populated by lynxes migrating from
France and the
Czech Republic. In 2002, the first birth of wild lynx on German territory was announced, following a litter from a pair of lynx in the
Harz National Park. Small populations exist also in
Saxon Switzerland,
Palatinate Forest, and
Fichtel Mountains. Eurasian lynx also migrated to
Austria, where they had also been exterminated. An episode of the PBS television series
Nature featured the return of the lynx to Austria's
Kalkalpen National Park after a 150-year absence. A higher proportion is killed by humans than by infectious diseases. In
Switzerland, the Eurasian lynx was exterminated in the early 20th century, with the last confirmed sighting around Simplon pass in 1904. From 1971 on, Carpathian lynx were reintroduced in the
Alps and the
Jura Mountains. Since then, the population has grown slowly but steadily. In 2019, around 250 lynx were reportedly living in Switzerland, roughly a third of them in the Jura Mountains, and the rest in the Alps and Pre-Alps. The Eurasian lynx was exterminated in the
French Alps in the early 20th century. Following
reintroduction of lynx in the Swiss Jura Mountains in the 1970s, lynxes were recorded again in the French Alps and
Jura from the late 1970s onwards. In
Italy, it recolonised the
Italian Alps since the 1980s, also from reintroduced populations in Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. By 2010, the
Alpine lynx population comprised about 120–150 individuals ranging over in six sub-areas. In the
Netherlands, lynxes have been sighted sporadically since 1985 in the country's southern part. Since 2020, the presence of lynxes has been confirmed by
camera trapping in the
Ardennes region in southern
Belgium, proving the presence of the species following more than 25 years of unconfirmed sightings in the region.
Central and Eastern Europe •
Balkan peninsula: The
Balkan lynx subspecies is found in
Serbia,
Croatia,
Montenegro,
Albania,
Kosovo,
North Macedonia,
Bulgaria and possibly
Greece. They can be found in remote mountainous regions of the Balkans, with the largest numbers in remote hills of western North Macedonia, eastern Albania and northern Albania. The Balkan lynx is considered a national symbol of North Macedonia, and it is depicted on the
reverse of the Macedonian 5
denars coin, issued in 1993. The name of
Lynkestis, a Macedonian tribe, is translated as "Land of the Lynx". It has been on the brink of
extinction for nearly 100 years. Numbers are estimated to be around 100, and the decline is due to illegal poaching. •
Carpathian Mountains: About 2,800 Eurasian lynx live in the mountain range, split between the
Czech Republic,
Poland,
Romania,
Slovakia,
Ukraine and
Hungary. It is the largest contiguous Eurasian lynx population west of the Russian border. •
Dinaric Alps and
Julian Alps:
Slovenia,
Croatia, and
Bosnia and Herzegovina are home to approx. 130–200 lynx. The Eurasian lynx had been considered extinct in these countries since the beginning of the 20th century. However, a successful reintroduction project was carried out in Slovenia in 1973, when three female and three male lynx from Slovakia were released in the
Kočevski Rog forest. Today, lynx are present in the Dinaric forests of the south and southeastern part of Slovenia and in the Croatian regions of
Gorski kotar and
Velebit, spanning the Dinaric Alps and over the
Dinara Mountains into western Bosnia and Herzegovina. The lynx has been also spotted in the
Julian Alps and elsewhere in western Slovenia, but the
A1 motorway presents a significant hindrance to the development of the population there. Croatia's
Plitvice Lakes National Park is home to several pairs of the lynx. In the three countries, the Eurasian lynx is listed as an endangered species and protected by law. Realistic population estimates are 40 lynx in Slovenia, 40–60 in Croatia, and more than 50 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian massif Risnjak in
Risnjak National Park got its name from the Croatian word for the lynx,
ris. •
Belarus: the most recent data from the national parks, reserves, and hunting grounds demonstrate the number of lynxes in Belarus to be in the range of 550 to 600 animals. •
Bulgaria: the animal was declared extinct in
Bulgaria in 1985, but sightings continued well into the 1990s. In 2006 an audio recording of a lynx mating call was made in the
Strandzha mountain range in the southeast. Two years later an ear-marked individual was accidentally shot near
Belogradchik in the northwest, and a few months later a mounted trap camera caught a glimpse of another individual. Further camera records followed in
Osogovo and Strandzha, confirming that the species has returned to the country. A thorough examination on the subject is yet to be made available. • Czech Republic: In
Bohemia, the Eurasian lynx was exterminated in the 19th century (1830–1890) and in
Moravia probably at the turn of the 20th century. After 1945, migration from
Slovakia created a small and unstable population in
Moravia. In the 1980s, almost 20 specimens were imported from Slovakia and reintroduced in the
Šumava area. In early 2006, the population of lynx in the Czech Republic was estimated at 65–105 individuals. Hunting is prohibited, but the lynx is often threatened by poachers. •
Estonia: There are 900 individuals in Estonia according to a 2001 estimate. Although 180 lynx were legally hunted in Estonia in 2010, the country still has the highest known density of the species in Europe. •
Hungary: The population is estimated at 10-12 animals, in the northern mountain ranges of the country close to Slovakia. •
Latvia: According to a 2005 estimate, about 700 animals inhabit areas in
Courland and
Vidzeme. •
Lithuania: The population is estimated at 80–100 animals. • Poland: In its Environment and Environmental Protection Section, the 2011 Central Statistical Office Report puts the number of Eurasian lynxes observed in the wild in Poland as of 2010 at approximately 285. There are two major populations of lynxes in Poland, one in the northeastern part of the country (most notably in the
Białowieża Forest) and the other in the southeastern part in the
Carpathian Mountains. Since the 1980s, lynxes have also been spotted in the region of
Roztocze,
Solska Forest,
Polesie Lubelskie, and
Karkonosze Mountains, though they still remain rare in those areas. A successfully reintroduced population of lynxes has also been living in the
Kampinos National Park since the 1990s. • Slovakia: the Eurasian lynx inhabits deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests at elevations of , mostly in national parks and other protected areas; its presence has been positively confirmed in more than half of Slovak territory (2012). In terms of absolute numbers though in
Štiavnica Mountains and
Veľká Fatra National Park, surveys during 2011 to 2014 revealed that less than 30 individuals were present in these protected areas, with anthropic disturbances, poaching and insufficient counting methods used by forestry cited as the main causes of the unreliable population figures. •
Romania: over 2,000 Eurasian lynx live in Romania, including most of the Carpathian population. However, some experts consider these official population numbers to be overestimated. Limited hunting is permitted but the population is stable. • Russia: , the Russian lynx population was estimated as comprising 22,510 individuals, of which about 9,000 were found in
European Russia.
Asia Anatolia and Caucasus In the
Anatolian part of
Turkey, the Eurasian lynx is present in the
Lesser Caucasus,
Kaçkar Mountains and
Artvin Province. In
Ciglikara Nature Reserve located in the
Taurus Mountains, 15 individuals were identified. More than 50 individuals were identified and monitored at a forest-steppe mixed ecosystem in northwestern Anatolia by camera traps, genetic material and
radiotelemetry between 2009 and 2019. In
Kars Province, a breeding population occurs in
Sarıkamış-Allahuekber Mountains National Park. The Eurasian lynx and grey wolf can occur
sympatrically, as they occupy different trophic niches.
Central Asia In
Central Asia, it is native to
Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan,
Afghanistan and the
Chinese provinces of
Xinjiang,
Gansu,
Qinghai,
Sichuan,
Shaanxi, and to the northern slopes of
Iran's
Alborz Mountains and
Mongolia. In
India:
Ladakh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Kashmir and most other Himalayan states. In
Nepal, a Eurasian lynx was sighted in the western
Dhaulagiri massif in 1975. It is also present above elevations of in
Humla,
Mustang and
Dolpa Districts.
East Asia Fossils of the Eurasian or a closely related
Lynx species from the Late
Pleistocene era and onward were excavated at various locations in the
Japanese archipelago. Since no archaeological evidence dated after the
Yayoi period has been found, it was probably
extirpated from the Japanese archipelago during the
Jōmon period. == Behaviour and ecology ==