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Schmidt, C.J.; Choate, J.R.; Phelps, K.L.
Wandering Canada lynx in Kansas
2008 Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science (111): 1-2
Historically, the Canada lynx (_Lynx canadensis_) ranged across Alaska, Canada, and the northern United States and south on the Rocky Mountains to Colorado and perhaps New Mexico (Hall 1981, Frey 2006). Boreal or boreomontane forest, especially areas supporting populations of the snowshoe hare (_Lepus americanus_), is favored habitat of the species (Quinn and Parker 1987). However, it sporadically occurs outside its natural range in seemingly unsuitable habitats during population irruptions that typically follow a cyclical pattern like that of the snowshoe hare (Jones et al. 1985, Wilson and Reeder 2005). At those times, the Canada lynx may be found in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Iowa, and Nebraska well to the south of its natural range (Gunderson 1978, Hoffman and Genoways 2005). However, the Canada lynx has never been recorded on the Great Plains as far south as Kansas.
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