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Mating season is from February to mid-April. Oestrus lasts for three days. Male and female often feed together during this time. Females are thought to give birth usually late May/early June.

Litters can be anywhere from one to five kittens. Two to three kittens is typical. A newborn lynx weighs about 300 grams. At three months, kittens begin following the mother out of the rock cave den to eat meat from her kills. At ten months, usually around March or April, kittens leave their mothers to be independent.

Lynx live mostly independent lives except for mating and raising cubs. Lynxes occupy territories marked with special gland secretions, urine, or feces. Males have larger territories to have access to one or two females. Males are thought to have territories around 180-2780 km2. Females are thought to have territories around 98-759 km2. Mothers and daughters sometimes have greatly overlapping territories.

Lynx are active during the evening and night and sleep during the day.

The Lynx genus usually hunts lagomorphs, or hares and rabbits. However, the Eurasian lynx also hunts small ungulates, or deer such as roe deer, chamois, or musk deer. Although the lynx is known to have killed up to 30% of the roe deer population in northern Europe, they are not usually considered a threat to livestock. However, in Norway, lynxes have killed increasing numbers of sheep, up to 10,000 between 1996 and 2001.

The Balkan lynx might leave smaller tracks than Eurasian lynx, which measures 7-9cm.