Nature is full of surprises and its beautiful wonders often have the power to leave us mesmerized. There are so many species of birds and animals that it becomes rather difficult to remember the names of them all.

However, sometimes you may come across certain species that may look absolutely different from anything you could ever imagine, and it’s probably one of the most memorable experiences for anyone. Something similar happened with a Twitter user. Sherine Fatima recently shared a video of a possible Tibetan Lynx spotting in Ladakh that has garnered quite a bit of speculation.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Sherine Fatima, but the username @fatima_sherine, shared a video of an animal that has left many people speculating about the specie. She shared a video of a cat-like wild animal wherein she was seen to be curious about it. In the video, one can see that the animal is surrounded by barking dogs, who seem to be unhappy to have an intruder in their territory. However, the petite animal is confidently seen walking in their midst, with its head held high.

The user also tagged the Wildlife Trust of India and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, asking them about the specie of the animal. She is, however, correct in her observation that the animal does look like an interesting mix between a lion and a cat. Several users replied to her video, suggesting that this animal looks like Eurasian Lynx or Tibetan/Himalayan Lynx. One of the users also commented how it’s a rare sighting. While another commenter informed on the platform that it’s called ‘EEE’ in Ladakhi language.

About Himalayan Lynx

Lynxes have very short tails, with long powerful legs and large paws. The short tail has a thick black tip, but no black rings above. Their ears terminate in long, black hair tufts, and their cheeks are framed by longer white and black hair. Their overall body color is silvery grey, with a reddish under fur, showing more reddish tones in summer coats. Immature lynxes have black spots all over the body, which fade with age, although some adults still show faint spots on the outside of the upper limbs and forehead.

Habitat and Ecology: In Central Asia, Lynx occur in more open, thinly wooded areas and steppe habitats. The species probably occurs throughout the northern slopes of the Himalayas and has been reported both from thick scrub woodland and barren, rocky areas above the tree line. Lynx occur sporadically throughout the Tibetan plateau and are found throughout the rocky hills and mountains of the Central Asian desert regions. The Lynx has well-developed senses of vision, smell, and hearing.

They use their sense of smell to detect scents left by other lynxes and predators in their range while they depend on their senses of vision and hearing to locate potential prey. Its eyes provide good overall day-and-night vision, but when a potential prey can’t be seen, they rely on its sense of hearing. Lynx hunt mostly in the late afternoon and evening, becoming active again with the first light of dawn. The Lynx is a solitary predator and prey on hares, rodents, grouse, ungulates, and foxes.

Behaviour and ecology

Although they may hunt during the day when food is scarce, the Eurasian lynx is mainly nocturnal or crepuscular and spends the day sleeping in dense thickets or other places of concealment. It lives solitarily as an adult. The hunting area of Eurasian lynx can be anything from 20 to 450 km² (7.7 to 173.7 sq mi), depending on the local availability of prey. Males tend to hunt over much larger areas than females, which tend to occupy exclusive, rather than overlapping, hunting ranges. The Eurasian lynx can travel up to 20 km (12 mi) during one night, although about half this distance is more typical.

They patrol regularly throughout all parts of their hunting range, using scent marks to indicate their presence to other individuals. As with other cats, its scent marks may consist of faeces, urine, or scrape marks, with the former often being left in prominent locations along the boundary of the hunting territory. Eurasian lynx makes a range of vocalizations but is generally silent outside of the breeding season.

They have been observed to mew, hiss, growl, and purr, and, like domestic cats, will "chatter" at prey that is just out of reach. Mating calls are much louder, consisting of deep growls in the male, and loud "meow-like" sounds in the female. Eurasian lynxes are secretive, and because the sounds they make are very quiet and seldom heard, their presence in an area may go unnoticed for years. Remnants of prey or tracks on snow are usually observed long before the animal is seen.

Diet and hunting

Eurasian lynx in Europe prey largely on small to fairly large-sized mammals and birds. Among the recorded prey items for the species are hares, rabbits, marmots, squirrels, dormice, other rodents, mustelids (such as martens), grouse, red foxes, wild boar, chamois, young moose, roe deer, red deer, reindeer, and other ungulates. In keeping with its larger size, the Eurasian lynx is the only lynx species to preferentially take ungulates (the Iberian lynx and Canada lynx being specialists on lagomorph prey, while the bobcat is an opportunistic generalist). Although taking on larger prey presents a risk to the animal, the bounty provided by killing them can outweigh the risks. The Eurasian lynx thus prefers fairly large ungulate prey, especially during winter, when small prey is less abundant. Where common, roe deer appear to be the preferred prey species for the lynx

The main method of hunting is stalking, sneaking, and jumping on prey, although they also ambush predators when conditions are suitable. In winter certain snow conditions make this harder and the animal may be forced to switch to larger prey in Europe. Eurasian lynx hunt using both vision and hearing, and often climb onto high rocks or fallen trees to scan the surrounding area. A very powerful predator, these lynxes have successfully killed adult deer weighing to at least 150 kg (330 lb).

Reproduction

The mating season of the Eurasian lynx lasts from January to April. The female typically comes into oestrus only once during this period, lasting from four to seven days. If the first litter is lost, a second period of oestrus is common. It does not appear to be able to control its reproductive behavior based on prey availability. Gestation lasts from 67 to 74 days. Pregnant females construct dens in secluded locations, often protected by overhanging branches or tree roots. The den is lined with feathers, deer hair, and dry grass to provide bedding for the young. At birth, Eurasian lynx kittens weigh 240 to 430 g (8.5 to 15.2 oz) and open their eyes after ten to twelve days. They initially have plain, greyish-brown fur, attaining full adult coloration around eleven weeks of age. They begin to take solid food at six to seven weeks when they begin to leave the den but are not fully weaned for five or six months. The den is abandoned two to three months after the kittens are born, but the young typically remain with their mother until they are around ten months of age. Eurasian lynx reach sexual maturity at two or three years and have lived for twenty-one years in captivity.

Females usually have two kittens; litters with more than three kittens are rare

Threats: Recreational activities, Garbage and solid waste, illegal hunting, human disturbance, habitat loss, and competition for forage with domestic livestock.  

References:

curlytales.com
en.wikipedia.org