Lynx (Lynx lynx)

The lynx (Lynx lynx) is the only wild feline in Finland. As a typical cat, it is the most consummate predator amongst all large carnivores. Its diet consists almost exclusively of mammals and birds. In the olden days, any talk about the lynx was likely to focus on its valuable fur.

In the Middle Ages, the beautiful spotted fur of the lynx was a highly desirable and quite expensive luxury item in Scandinavia and Central Europe. Fur hunters could get their full year’s wages from selling just one pelt. In those days, people believed that there was no adversity so great that the beautiful pelt of a lynx could not make up for it.

Learn about large carnivores in Finland at largecarnivores.fi

Wed Jun 22 10:00:00 2016

Finland has long experience in conserving large carnivores and managing their populations, and indeed there is wide interest abroad in the Finnish policy on large carnivores. This is why the Finnish suurpedot.fi website is now also available in English at largecarnivores.fi. This allows us to give information and take part in the exchange of information and views on large carnivores across Europe.

Largecarnivores.fi website offers a lot of information on the four large carnivores in Finland: wolf, bear, lynx and wolverine. Besides the highly popular details on the species and their tracks there is information on the conservation and management of large carnivores and their position in society.

“We wish to tell about the varying interests relating to large carnivores from the perspective of management, conservation or, for example, reindeer husbandry,” says Sami Niemi, Ministerial Adviser at the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The English language website is an information window on large carnivores in Finland for the international media, NGOs and all those interests in the matter.

The website is maintained by the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Metsähallitus, the Finnish Wildlife Agency, the Natural Resources Institute Finland and the Ministry of the Environment.

Inquiries:
Sami Niemi, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland, tel. +358 295 162 391, forename.surname@mmm.fi

Lynx caterwaul

Lynx tracks

The lynx leaves tracks that are typical of felines. The lynx has four toes that are visible in its tracks. The digital pads on the lynx's paw look small and round, sometimes they even resemble thin fingertips. When it moves the lynx keeps its sharp claws inside the paws, except in certain special ca...