10 Dollars In the name of Elizabeth II; Lynx

Reverse

Lynx facing right. Inscription surrounding.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
CANADA 2023
9999
FINE GOLD 1/4 OZ OR PUR
PL

Designer: Pierre Leduc

Edge

Serrated

Comment

About
Seventh issue of the Animal Portrait Series.

 A striking yet secretive symbol of this nation’s wild spaces, the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) is one of three species of wild cats that inhabit Canada’s boreal forest.

This medium-sized felid is slightly larger than the bobcat, with males weighing up to 11 kilograms and standing up to 56 centimetres at the shoulders.

Generally solitary, the lynx is known to have acute sight and superb hearing. It is easily recognized by its black-tipped ears, bobbed tail and broad, furry feet. Those mitten-like paws act like snowshoes in the winter, allowing it to easily move across soft snow, while its thick brown and grey fur provides much-needed warmth.

Encounters in the wild are surprisingly rare, due in part to the lynx’s largely nocturnal activities and its avoidance of human contact. It forms one half of a predator-prey relationship with the snowshoe hare—in fact, the two species’ population cycles are closely linked. In order to meet its nutritional needs, the lynx must feed on one or two hares every three days—and up to 200 hares in one year—but the lynx is not a fast runner; instead, this stealthy hunter quietly lies in wait, then stalks and ambushes its prey at close range.

Interesting fact