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Small Wild Cats
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In 'Säugetiere der Sowjetunion' (Heptner & Sludskij, German edition, 1980, pp. 421), a lynx of 35 kg. is mentioned (Altai Mountains, Dul'kejt, 1953).
The lynx in Jakutsk (Felis lynx wrangeli, Ognev, 1928) is the largest subspecies (skull measurements), but the Carpathian lynx (Felis lynx carpathica, Kratochv. and Stollm., 1963) is the heaviest of all (averages). The heaviest confirmed male was 36,5 kg. Another one, unconfirmed, was 38 kg. (Heptner & Sludskij, 1980, pp. 437-439). The Carpathian lynx is a 'red' lynx and these usually are smaller than the lynxes in the north (Scandinavia) and east (Russia). The large average weight (13 males averaged 25,7 kg.) was a result of the good conditions in Slovakia and Rumania (referring to the situation before 1980). As for the attitude regarding predators in Norway. I've been in Sweden for many years. The region I visited was close to Norway. We sometimes watched documentaries broadcasted on the Norwegian television. I remembered predators (wolves, bears and lynxes) were regarded with a lot of distrust. Fear was a major part of the documentaries and my guess is the media are to blame. They are really overdoing it and the result is destruction. Maybe the time has arrived to write a few letters to newspapers? 
About the maximum size of the Eurasian Lynx, check what is stated by Sunquist & Sunquist (2002), in they great book "Wild cats of the world":
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author It seems that any lynx over 30 kg most be treated with careful, like all the specimens here, after all, there is no direct evidence than any of this specimens (in the pictures) were actually weighed, just the word of the hunters. The heaviest male in all these scientific samples was of 25 kg, but there is the possibility that some exceptional specimens could reach the 30-38 kg. However, I think that a specimen over 30 kg is already exceptional and most be verified. Finally, here is the record lynx (at this day) from the Russian Far East:  *This image is copyright of its original author With "only" 62 pounds (28.1 kg), this is the best candidate for the largest specimen. However, take in count that even the scientists there believe that larger specimens are probably out there. 
Carpatian lynx, population around 100 in the czech republic. Couple of decades ago he was extinct, but he returned (and has been also reintroduced). Unfortunately threatened by poachers and also by gamekeepers, althought hunting of lynx is strictly prohibited by law. At least the numbers of lynx remain relatively stable.
One gamekeeper told me "every gamekeeper would kill a lynx at every oportunity because lynx is f***ing bastard. But unfortunately lynx is smart, cautious and rarely seen". I told him "Yes, I completely agree with the f***ing bastard, but its not the lynx, who deserves the title, this title goes to permanently drunk idiots with rifles and shruken sexual organs". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-RdJXeI-4A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnTFXi9tQFM
ARTICLES ON SMALL CATS
1 - The lynx in Turkey: http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/zoology/i...110-16.pdf 2 - The jungle cat in Jordan: http://www.kasparek-verlag.de/PDFs/BakerAmr.pdf 3 - Non-native cats (most of them small) in the UK: http://scotcats.online.fr/abc/realcats/index.html
An interesting study on wild cats in Ukraine:
http://bioweb.lnu.edu.ua/studia/pdf/201483/2014_8_3_357.pdf 
The animal in the original first post was shot in Sweden in 2013 (not Norway). Here is a link to the shooters homepage: http://www.jaktforlivet.se/nyheter/item/34-rekordlo?
Some background: All Wolves, Bears, Lynx and Wolverines must be sent in for analysis at the Swedish Veterinary Institute (SVA) whether they are found dead, killed by accident or shot under legal licence. This animal was shot legally about two hours from where I live. I don't know the shooter personally, but he is a well known and respected big game hunter in Sweden. Here is the same animal filmed after the hunt (the final Lynx in the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBqM7fBi3yg and here are two pictures from SVA: http://www.jaktojagare.se/kategorier/not...-till-sva/ The animal on the left is a big Lynx male, the animal on the right is the record male we are talking about. Translation: "We received a lynx male from Västerbotten (Sweden that is) that according to the accompanying records scaled 34 kg. When we scaled it here at SVE, skinned, furless, without paws and fat, we found 27 kg -- we believe 34 kg was an accurate measurement by the hunters." This animal is confirmed as the largest ever scaled by SVA. The previous Swedish record was 28 kg.  (03-30-2016, 01:42 AM)Pckts Wrote: I'm not a fan of hunting but your information is appreciated. Thanks. Personally I believe the hunting of Lynx in Sweden is a disgrace but the Wolf hunting is even worse. I only posted this to correct some info in the original post. These are the facts as they are known.  
Norway, 5 millions inhabitants for 385.000 km2. After Iceland, the most inhabited land in Europa, 13 inhabitants per km2. Thus, they can more efficiently protect their wild nature , because lesser pressure of the human population on the wild beasts. Nevertheless all these pretexts for evil, lamest excuses, are good to kill such a beautiful animal. Completely pathetic...
Thanks for all the answers.
I have requested a direct confirmation from SVA about the weight of this record animal (an official statement if you will) and will post an update later. Cheers / StefanC
I have had personal correspondence with an official at SVA and can now confirm that the large Lynx male shot near Vilhelmina/Storuman (Västerbotten County, Sweden) in 2013, did indeed scale 34 kg. This is the animal shown in the picture at the start of this thread.
I also asked for information on the average masses and spread for males and females. Average mass for males >1yrs old is 17.5 kg. There are several male lynxes just below 30 kg but only one above (the animal we are discussing). Average mass for females >1yrs old is 16.8 kg. The largest female scales 22 kg. These averages are based on roughly 3000 dead Lynx examined by SVA, about 1600 males and 1400 females. Personal reflections: Compare the figures above with data from “Wild Cats of the World” (2002) as quoted by GuateGojira in an earlier post (thanks btw). The sample size (n) is declared for Russia, Romania, Poland, Kashmir and Pakistan but not for Sweden. Why this is, is not clear. Example: the Russian sample sizes are 10 males and 12 females for column WT (mass in kg). All sample sizes in this table are single or low double digits. The actual Swedish sample size is about two orders of magnitude larger. We should therefore put more trust in the Swedish numbers than the others. In addition, it would be informative to learn not just the mean, but also the median and mode for males and females. This will tell us how skewed the distribution is. Mean mass of females and males differ by only 0.7 kg, but as is clear, males can grow substantially larger, and it is likely there are more undiscovered large males out there. The Swedish numbers are likely representative of the Scandinavian population, i.e. Norway and Sweden, and perhaps also for Finland (total Scandinavian population somewhere around 3000 animals). Both Finland and Norway are likely to keep similar records and having access to them would be valuable. Poland, Russia and Romania probably don’t. It would be particularly valuable to get data from the Carpathians (Romania) since they have a very healthy Lynx population of similar size to the Scandinavian one. Finally, the topic starter should correct the title of the thread. 
Large-scale genetic census of an elusive carnivore, the European wildcat (Felis s. silvestris) Steyer et al., 2016
Abstract: "The European wildcat, Felis silvestris silvestris, serves as a prominent target species for the reconnection of central European forest habitats. Monitoring of this species, however, appears difficult due to its elusive behaviour and the ease of confusion with domestic cats. Recently, evidence for multiple wildcat occurrences outside its known distribution has accumulated in several areas across Central Europe, questioning the validity of available distribution data for this species. Our aim was to assess the fine-scale distribution and genetic status of the wildcat in its central European distribution range. We compiled and analysed genetic samples from roadkills and hundreds of recent hair-trapping surveys and applied phylogenetic and genetic clustering methods to discriminate wild and domestic cats and identify population subdivision. 2220 individuals were confirmed as either wildcat (n = 1792) or domestic cat (n = 342), and the remaining 86 (3.9 %) were identified as hybrids between the two. Remarkably, genetic distinction of domestic cats, wildcats and their hybrids was only possible when taking into account the presence of two highly distinct genetic lineages of wildcats, with a suture zone in central Germany. 44 % of the individual wildcats where sampled outside the previously published distribution. Our analyses confirm a relatively continuous spatial presence of wildcats across large parts of the study area in contrast to previous analyses indicating a highly fragmented distribution. Our results suggest that wildcat conservation and management should take advantage of the higher than previously assumed dispersal potential of wildcats, which may use wildlife corridors very efficiently." |
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