DEPARTMENT INFORMATION

• Commissioner's OfficeBureaus & Divisions
• All-Terrain Vehicles, Snowmobiles, and Watercraft
• Education
• Employment
• Fishing
• Grants
• Hunting and Trapping
• Laws and Rules
• Licenses and Permits
• News and Events
• Wildlife
  • DiseaseGroups & ProgramsManagementRehabilitationSpecies InformationSurveys & ReportsWhere to See Wildlife

Population and Habitat Status

Confirmed observations of lynx in Maine between 1999 and 2008 (update available soon).

• Lynx are found primarily in Alaska and Canada, where snow is deep, and spruce/fir forest are common
• Maine is at the southern edge of lynx range, thus lynx are less secure
• Lynx are found in the spruce/fir forests of northern and western Maine where snow is deep most of  the winter
• In Maine, lynx numbers have fluctuated with the forest conditions that support snowshoe hare
• The abundance of young dense spruce/fir forest from extensive clearcutting of diseased spruce/fir trees 30 years ago led to high hare numbers.
• Lynx populations began to increase and reached a record high in 2006
• We estimated between 600 and 1,200 adult lynx in northern and western Maine spruce/fir forest.
• These regenerating spruce/fir clearcuts are growing into older forested stands
• There isn’t sufficient younger forest to immediately replace current lynx habitat
• Although there will be less young s/f forest in the future, it may be sufficient for lynx to persist.
• The USFWS, the University of Maine, and MDIFW are working together to determine what types and how much habitat is needed to support lynx in Maine.

Back to: Lynx - The Maine Story