July 24, 2015

1771 ROMANIA (Neamţ) - Eurasian Lynx


A lynx is any of the four species within the Lynx genus of medium-sized wild cats, which live in Europa and Asia (Eurasian lynx and Iberian lynx) and North America (Canada lynx and Bobcat). Lynx have a short tail, characteristic tufts of black hair on the tips of their ears, large, padded paws for walking on snow and long whiskers on the face. Under their neck, they have a ruff which has black bars resembling a bow tie although this is often not visible. Body colour varies from medium brown to goldish to beige-white, and is occasionally marked with dark brown spots, especially on the limbs.

The lynx is usually solitary, although a small group of lynx may travel and hunt together occasionally. Mating takes place in the late winter and once a year the female gives birth to between one and four kittens. It feeds on a wide range of animals from white-tailed deer, reindeer, roe deer, small red deer, and chamois, to smaller, more usual prey. The lynx inhabits high altitude forests with dense cover of shrubs, reeds, and tall grass. Although this cat hunts on the ground, it can climb trees and can swim swiftly, catching fish. The largest species is the Eurasian lynx (80 to 130 cm in length).

The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is native to European and Siberian forests, Central Asia and East Asia. While its conservation status has been classified as "Least Concern", populations of Eurasian lynx have been reduced or extirpated from western Europe, where it is presently being reintroduced. About 2,800 lynx live in Carpathian Mountains, of which over 2000 in Romania, the largest contiguous Eurasian Lynx population west of the Russian border. In Romania, as also in Sweden and Finland, the lynx is protected but a limited number of Lynx can be killed under derogation.

About the stamp
The stamp is part of the second series Pressing irons - Romanian collections, about which I wrote here.

References
Lynx - Wikipedia
Eurasian Lynx - Wikipedia
Lynx Lynx - The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Sender: Marius Vasiliu (direct swap)
Sent from Gura Humorului (Suceava / Romania), on 28.03.2013
Photo: Marius Vasiliu

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