If there is still a person on the planet who would dare to say that there’s nothing more to learn when it comes to wildlife, he or she should bite their tongue. Going out there in the wilderness and looking for new species is something that many people do nowadays, and they often remain shocked. Such a journey can even be dangerous, but it comes with the territory.
Very few people have ever seen a black-coated Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) before, but now, everybody can see one thanks to the miraculous powers of the internet. To be more precise, Thomas Jung, who’s a wildlife biologist with the Department of Environment of the Government of Yukon, is the lucky person who caught the rare animal on camera, as ScienceAlert reveals.
Near the town of Whitehorse in Yukon (Canada)
The black Canada lynx was spotted back in late August 2020 near Whitehorse, a town located in the Canadian territory known as Yukon. Feel free to feast your eyes on the creature below:
At first glance, the animal sure looks like a typical lynx. It has pointy ears, a short tail, and a feline way of walking. It can surely give someone the creeps as soon as he gets his foot in the door. The animal can still fall into the “big cats” category.
The fur of black Canada lynx can change its color depending on the season. During summer, the fur is reddish brown, and it becomes silvery gray during the winter.
Thomas Jung stated:
Indeed, with increased competition by coyotes (Canis latrans) a concern for Canada lynx encountering increasingly shallow snow as a result of climate change, the added disadvantage of lost camouflage to melanistic lynx hunting hares during winter would likely result in melanism being maladaptive.
The new study was published in Mammalia.
