Eurasian lynx

It is a carnivore. In northern and central Europe the main prey is often a small ungulate, especially roe deer. In Georgia’s eastern semi-arid zone NACRES (2022) writes that in Vashlovani it depends almost entirely on smaller prey — hare, pheasant, and chukar; poaching of those prey species is named as a main pressure. Soyumert and co-authors (2019) show hares as the main prey in similar western Asian habitat — that is an Anatolian camera-trap result, not a Georgian stomach analysis. At species level it also takes foxes, birds, wild boar, or domestic sheep and goats at times. There is no complete national diet study on this page.

It is usually solitary and territorial. It hunts mainly at dusk and in the first half of the night; it can also appear by day, especially in the mating season. It stalks and ambushes prey. At species level mating is from February to early April, peaking in the second half of March; gestation is about 68–73 days; kittens are usually born in late May or early June, often 1–4, and stay with the female until about ten months. Those figures come from the wider range, not a Georgian den sample. Tracks are cat-like: round, usually without claw marks because the claws retract when walking; wolf tracks often show claws. Each animal has a unique spot pattern, so camera traps can count individuals. Calls are uncommon near people and more frequent in the mating season. No Georgian recording is on this page; the clip is xeno-canto XC626659 (Stanislas Wroza, La Tour-du-Meix, Jura, France, 26 February 2021).

Breitenmoser and co-authors assess Lynx lynx as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2015, errata 2017). Global status does not mean every local population is secure. In Georgia, Government Resolution No. 190 of 2014 lists the species as CR, criterion C2(aI), for a small, fragmented population. Hunting is not allowed. It is on CITES Appendix II and Bern Convention Appendix III. Georgia’s Fifth CBD National Report lists it as CR and notes that 2012 work in the semi-arid ecosystem suggested more individuals than expected. NACRES (2022) estimates 9–14 animals in Vashlovani (density 2.25–3.52 / 100 km²) and at least two in Chachuna; a minimum of about 11 in that semi-arid system — those two areas, not a national total. The 2012 Vashlovani estimate was similar (about 10); the authors treat that local population as relatively stable. Askerov and co-authors (2020) write that the species is fairly widespread in Caucasus forests, but there is no dedicated national census. Named pressures are poaching, prey decline, habitat fragmentation, and, in the semi-arid zone, unregulated grazing.