Co-author Irina Rotenko
Over twenty years in the past, for the primary time, I encountered a lynx household’s tracks displaying that the mom had very small kittens in mid-December. The kittens’ footprints had been nearly half the scale of a typical kitten’s at the moment of yr. Just a few years later, I noticed this phenomenon once more.
As soon as later throughout a gathering with lynx consultants, I introduced up situations the place exceptionally small lynx kitten tracks had been recorded in the beginning of winter (suggesting unusually small kittens). I proposed this could possibly be as a result of females giving beginning very late of their second or third years (their first breeding). Apparently, we’ve got noticed an identical sample in wolves (marked by finger clipping), the place first-time breeding females gave beginning a few month later than older females. It appeared that my colleagues perceived these accounts as potential errors on my half.
Just lately, I encountered remarkably small footprints of lynx kittens within the early winter once more at the least twice extra. I had practically forgotten about these observations. Nevertheless, we managed to seize footage of an exceptionally small lynx kitten on November 4th. It was roughly the scale of a giant home cat, which is typical for lynx kittens across the first half of August on the newest. Due to this fact, it’s doubtless that the lynx kitten proven in our photograph was born in August. The breeding web site was situated in a dense space of treefall spanning a number of hectares.
The whole breeding story is kind of fascinating. From the spot sample on the coat, we all know that the mom lynx of the registered small kitten was born in the identical treefall in Might 2023. It was raised by the recognized feminine lynx, Mikhalina. In Might 2024, Mikhalina bred there as soon as extra. Usually, Mikhalina used the treefall as her year-round dwelling, visiting it very often. Though Mikhalina gave beginning there final Might and remained via June and July, within the treefall we noticed an grownup male lynx commonly and infrequently final yr’s kitten, which was the mom of this outstandingly small kitten. Then, in mid-August, Mikhalina left the treefall along with her kittens and by no means returned nonetheless. This was peculiar till we found that her daughter from the earlier yr had given beginning in the identical den. The photograph beneath exhibits a single, small three-month-old kitten, born and nurtured by Mikhalina’s barely over one-year-old daughter. The photograph was captured on November 4th.
