The Tibetan lynx, on the other hand, is a creature of the rocks and upland slopes where better grip of the ground is required, and furry feet would cause them to slip and slide. Furthermore, the Tibetan lynx—where it has crossed over to the southern aspects of the main Karakorum and Himalayan ranges—keeps above the treeline, there being no reports of it having been spotted even in the upland rhododendron thickets. In the Altai mountains of Mongolia, which is presumably the area of transition from the isabellinus to another subspecies, L.l. wardi, the lynx does not go much higher than the treeline.4 In all probability, therefore, the Altai lynx is not a Tibetan subspecies. No DNA analysis has been done, however, which would have categorically settled the issue.
The isabellinus, in keeping with its open, cold desert habitat, has a lighter-coloured coat than its forest dwelling counterparts. In summer, it is sandy-brown or dull reddish-brown, often tinged with grey, bearing dark brown spots more prominently on the limbs and lower parts of the body. In winter, the fur grows far thicker, the pelage turns silvery-grey, tinged with white, and the spots become much less conspicuous, often almost indistinct, in keeping with its requirements of camouflage in winter. In Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh, Captain Lowndes reported having seen two different kinds of lynx, one with bright orange-red and another with bright red summer coats. In the Gilgit region in Northwestern Kashmir, where the lynx inhabits the vegetation in the valley bottoms, there is apparently a transition of subspecies and the coat of the lynx assumes a rusty tinge. In a further adaptation to its mountain environment, the isabellinus has slightly shorter limbs, as are a snow leopard’s in comparison to a leopard’s. e lynx is characterized by its large, triangular ears tipped with long, black tufts of hair, a ru of long white and grey hair along the neck, a very short, thick tail tipped with black and long limbs, especially the hind ones, to equip the cat for springing.
The remoteness and ruggedness of its terrain, its solitary, secretive habits and the fact that it is a relatively small animal have resulted in the Tibetan lynx being one of the least studied Central Asian mammals of its size, and little is known about its ecology and behaviour.
The Tibetan lynx appears to be more social than its counterparts in Europe, and up to four adults have been seen together. Cubs are born blind after a gestation period of about sixty-five days, in spring, in a cave or a rock fissure, and weaned after six to eight weeks. Up to four cubs have been spotted with the mother, but none apparently over a year old. C.H. Stockley came upon a female with three cubs at an altitude of almost 5500 m near Hanle in Ladakh. He writes, ‘The woolly little cubs played happily within a few yards of me, while the mother stood anxiously watching about sixty yards away, occasionally making a mewing noise to call them to her. Eventually they joined her, and the family moved off together.’ They are also reported to make aggressive mewing calls during the mating period.
In winter, they can be found sunning themselves on a rock, but normally, they take their afternoon siesta under a rocky overhang or cave. In Europe, lynx are believed to hunt their prey by scent as well, but no such observation has been made with regard to the Tibetan lynx. In vast, open, windy vistas and slopes, it would be more rewarding to rely on their excellent eyesight and on their large ears for hunting.
In areas where the bharal occurs, they appear to be their principal large ungulate prey, especially the subadults. The size of this ungulate, the type of terrain it occupies, and its lesser degree of wariness lead to greater success at predation. In Spiti, Karakorum, Astor, Hunza and elsewhere where the lynx resides in ibex and markhor habitats, these goats are also preyed upon. G.B. Schaller reports a markhor successfully holding a lynx at bay with lowered horns in Chitral Gol in Pakistan. In the Pamir, I was informed that lynx occasionally succeed in pulling down Ovis poli, and in the Tien Shan of Kyrgyzstan, Ovis karelini. They prey on pheasants, pigeons, partridge and snowcock, and on their eggs.
In Europe and Russia, the other subspecies of the Eurasian lynx prey principally upon roe deer, chamois and musk deer, and not so much upon lagomorphs. The Tibetan lynx lives mainly above the treeline, where medium-sized ungulates do not occur but hares, pikas, marmots and other rodents do, which form a major part of their prey in the summer. In Ladakh and Sikkim, Tibetan woolly hares constitute a major species of prey. The substantial population of the ‘Ee’, as the lynx is called in Ladakh, observed by R. Chundawat, a conservation biologist, in the scrub-covered valley at the junction of the Nurbra and Shyok rivers in Ladakh, is because of the availability of an abundance of woolly hare in the region. When rodents and lagomorphs hibernate in winter, the cape hare (Lepus capensis) does not and so becomes an important part of their diet. It is even presumed that the fluctuations in the Tibetan lynx population are correlated to those of the rodents and lagomorphs. In North America, an abundance of Canadian lynx is correlated with the cyclic abundance of snowshoe hares. Unusual for felids of this size, lynx are reported to bury the kills which they are unable to consume. I have, however, not come across any such reports in the regions I have visited.
The predation of sheep and goats, especially within livestock pens, poses problems. On 30 March 2020, an old male lynx with worn-out teeth entered a pen in a village in Ladakh and killed thirty-four sheep. It is probable that in such killing frenzies by both the lynx and snow leopard, the marauding feline does not necessarily seriously maul all casualties. A number of them die of shock in a matter of hours or more, subsequently, reminiscent of the failed attempt by Emperor Jehangir to save the blackbuck that had been rescued, apparently unscathed, from the jaws of his captive cheetah.
Tibetan lynx population is primarily controlled by food availability and illegal trapping for its fur—especially its superb winter coat—which persists in some parts, despite legal prohibition. In nature, it is not the snow leopard but the wolf which is the main enemy of this lynx.
They are superb climbers and can travel great distances. A male lynx caught in the Pangong Tso area of the Changthang Sanctuary, Ladakh, was radio-collared and released in the Rumbak Valley of Hemis National Park on 25 December 2018, after it had raided a sheep and goat pen and killed over thirty animals. It remained in Rumbak for some weeks, where I tried unsuccessfully to spot it in January 2019. It then moved northeastward, crossed the Indus and the Leh–Srinagar highway, the Ladakh Range into the Nubra River valley, and proceeded up that valley to below Saser Kangri, the highest peak in Ladakh. It then swung towards the valley of the Shyok River. The animal stopped moving, based on the radio signals received, after June 2019. In a six-month period, the lynx had travelled well over 200 km of territory excluding its meanderings, as it was trying to reach its natal area, towards which it was heading in the final weeks.
In the present era, large, charismatic creatures receive far greater public attention and conservation focus than the remote, rarely seen, secretive animals, even though the latter may be far more critically endangered. is ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach must not be accorded to rare, exquisite, enigmatic and aloof animals like the lynx. They are an embodiment of one of the last terrestrial frontiers left for man—the highest mountains and the Bam-e-duniya, the ‘roof of the world’.
Excerpted with permission from Mountain Mammals of the World by M. K. Ranjitsinh and published by Penguin Random House India
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