Eurasian Lynx

The Eurasian lynx is the largest of the four lynx species. It has a short reddish or brown coat marked with black spots, whitish underparts, long powerful legs, big furred paws that act like snowshoes, and a short tail with an all-black tip. Black tufts crown the ears and a grey-and-white ruff frames the face. Winter fur is much thicker and silvery-grey to greyish brown, and southern animals are more brightly coloured and more heavily spotted (Wikipedia, general species account).

In India the lynx lives in the high Himalaya, including Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir. Droppings from the Nepal Himalaya held the remains of woolly hare, pika, mountain voles, Himalayan marmot and domestic goat. Across its range it is solitary and secretive, mainly active at night and around dusk, and its hunting area can be anywhere from 20 to 450 km² depending on prey. It ambushes or stalks and pounces, often climbing a rock to scan the ground, and can kill deer of 150 kg or more (Wikipedia, general species account).