Hybrid Cats Discovered In Maine, Minnesota

by Patricia Collier

Scientists have found two animals in Maine that are part lynx and part bobcat.

The U.S. Forest Service’s genetics laboratory in Missoula, Montana used DNA testing to prove the animals were the offspring of a female wild Canada lynx and a male bobcat.

The lynx/bobcat mix was first identified in the wild earlier this year in northern Minnesota when officials found three hybrid cats. Hunters there refer to the animals as "lynxcats."

According to an official with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the hybrid cats look more like bobcats, but they have long ear tufts and an almost completely black-tipped tail, traits of a lynx.

"They were funny looking bobcats," said state wildlife biologist Wally
Jakubas

.
"The two are of similar size and habits, and they share the same genus, but are classified as different species - the same relationship that a wolf has to a coyote or to a domestic dog," Jakubas said.

The Canada lynx is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Authorities said hybrids are not protected under the federal act.

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