Dog attacks 'not typical lynx behaviour,' says Yukon biologist

It's an unusual cat-bites-dog story, and it's happened twice in the last couple of weeks in Yukon someone's pet dog was attacked by a lynx.

Yukon government biologist Tom Jung says he's "pretty surprised."

"That's not a typical lynx behaviour. I'm sure this isn't the first time it's happened but, you know, these really are specialist predators of snowshoe hare. So to attack adog is pretty unusual," Jung said.

The first recent incident happened late last month, when two women were out walking their dogs on a trail near Beaver Creek, Yukon. One of the women said a lynx appeared out of nowhere and "grabbed my dog by his face." The two women managed to pull the catoff the dog and the lynxwas later shot.

Then last week, a dog owner in Whitehorse said their pet was attacked in the middle of the dayby a lynx in the McIntyre subdivision. The pet ownersaid aconservation officer happened to witness it, and rescued the injured dog.

Jung says these attacks are surprising, but not terribly puzzling snowshoe hares are in decline.

"The most obvious answer is, [the lynx] are hungry," he said.

"When the population ofsnowshoe hare declines, [lynx]have to find something else to eat. And unfortunately, it seems like some lynx have taken to attacking dogs."

Lynx and snowshoe populations offera classic study in predator-prey dynamics. Theytypically rise and fall ina multi-year cycle, tied closely together.

As hares become more plentiful, lynx thrive, until the hare population hits a peak and begins to decline. Lynx numbers then also dip.It's about a nine-to-10 year cycle, Jung says.

"At the peak, the numbers could be, you know, averaged out around three, four bunnies per hectare. But during the decline, it's more like one bunny per 10 hectares. So it's quite a difference," Jung said.

He says snowshoe hares in Yukon are now in about the third year of decline.

"So the numbers are really dropping quite a bit," he said.

That means lynx will soonbe more scarce as well, before the hare population begins to rebound in the coming years.

Jung says it's a dynamic that's been well-studied over the decades, but there's a new concern the population peaks are not what they used to be.

"We're having weaker peaks. So by thatI mean that when they do build up, the numbers don't build up like they used to in the 1970s or the 1980s," he said.

Jung said climate change may be a factor, affecting the amount of food available tosnowshoe hares, or there could be other stresses on the lynx population.

"We're not very sure at this time why we have these weak peaks," Jung said.