Not only can this lynx be found throughout Canada, it can also be found within portions of the United States including Washington, Idaho, Montana across to Maine. USFW introduced Canada lynx to the Rocky Mountains and the population is doing well.

Up to 97% of a Canada lynx’s diet can be made up of snowshoe hare. During the summer, they may prey upon small birds or rodents, but hares still will make up about half of their diet. Based on snow tracking observations, lynx will typically kill an average of one hare per day. Once the lynx has stalked close enough to their prey to pounce, they will jump as far as 8 feet while pursuing the hare.

Because the Canada lynx relies so heavily upon the snowshoe hare as their main food source, their population directly correlates with that of the hare’s. Canada lynx must learn how to hunt from their mothers, so lynx reintroduction attempts have not been successful. However, since snowshoe hares do not need to learn how to graze, conservationists are able to breed them in human care and release them back into the wild. When the snowshoe hare population increases, the Canada lynx population will follow suit.