A Yukon woman is initiating a study of lynx in the Chilkat valley. She hopes to shed light on some aspect of the coastal population.

In the early 70s, Elizabeth Hofer worked as a part time biologist. In the off season she ran a trapline at the pass along the Haines highway. In the eighties she took part in a large study of lynx in the Kluane area, where she used her trapping skills to catch live lynx. She built a  career studying the animal and is now retired. She lives around Haines Junction, and has lots of friends in Haines who are also retired biologists. One thing bothered her.

Hofer: “A lot of research has been done in Canada and in Alaska about Lynx in the boreal forest region. But none has ever been done specifically with lynx that are in the coastal or near coastal watersheds.”

She has decided to start a citizen science project. By combining reports of lynx sightings from local outdoors people, setting up trail cameras, and interviews with trappers, she thinks she can get an accurate picture of the lynx population in the Chilkat valley.

Hofer: “The trappers are the best source of information here because they have been trapping for a very long time and they know that some years they catch more than others, and those are the only actual records that exist.”

Hofer says the trapping records go back hundreds of years in Canada, since the days of the Hudson Bay Company. The Company’s accountants kept track of the number and kind of pelts it acquired. She says it is one example of business records that became scientific data.

Lynx are cats found in the boreal forests. They range from 25 to 35 pounds, and have long legs that allow them to move easily through snow.  They feed specifically on snowshoe hare. When their numbers are high, snowshoe hare constitute the highest biomass of any mammal in the boreal forest. 

Hofer has found a good way of explaining biomass to children when she visits a school.

Hofer: “You can illustrate by saying ‘this is the area we are talking about. Now think of all the animals in there. Let’s say you put all the moose in this pile, all the grizzly bears in this pile, all the squirrels in this pile, all the hares in this pile. Which pile is the biggest?’ And they would always say of course moose or the grizzly bear. But in fact there is a huge amount of biomass in the boreal forest when there are a lot of  snowshoe hare near or at the peak. And every predator, every raptor zeroes in on it.”

Lynx numbers follow closely the boom and bust population cycles of their main prey. Every eight to eleven years, the hare population crashes. Predation is a big factor. After those crashes, Lynx tend to disperse in search of food. They can cross the alpine area at the pass, and reach the Chilkat valley.

There are no commercial uses for lynx, so they are not studied in the same way salmon or moose are. Scientists have assumed there is a small population of resident lynx, regularly supplemented by a  migration of hungry animals from the interior. Hofer suspects this resident population may be larger and healthier than previously thought. Because the snowshoe hare population is relatively small near the coast, this would mean the lynx have adopted a more diverse diet. 

Hofer: “And when I come here and see this landscape through lynx eyes, it’s very different but it’s very plentiful with what I would consider -you know this is not scientific data you are hearing- 

That there are plenty of alternate prey potential here.”

Hofer cites red squirrels, voles, mice, grouse, ptarmigan, black tail deer and fish as all appropriate for a hungry lynx. She says they are visual hunters, and like all cats avoid wasting energy. They ambush then leap on their prey. Hofer describes those leaps..

Hofer: “Huge, a couple of meters. And they can make many. But so can the snowshoe hares They are also designed the same way. So they don’t always score, and there can be these great bounds, so it’s a lot of energy for a lynx to hunt a hare, to actually make the capture sometimes. 

To learn more about their diets, Hofer hopes to gather lynx carcasses from local trappers. Collecting hair for analysis could also yield data in the future. There is a link on our website to report observations of lynx to Elizabeth Hofer.