Movement behavior and activity budgets of female Canada lynx (<i>Lynx canadensis</i>) during the denning season

Observing the behavior of a species during its offspring-rearing period can provide valuable insights that improve our understanding of the habitat conditions required to support successful reproduction. We used GPS location data collected during a period of high snowshoe hare abundance from 2018 to 2020 to examine den use and investigate the capacity of Canada lynx ( Lynx canadensis Kerr, 1792) mothers to access prey resources around their den sites throughout the stages of kit development. We tested the hypothesis that mothers would be heavily restricted in movement during the first 2 months after parturition, at which point their behavior would return to pre-parturient baseline. At this high-latitude study site (∼67°N), parturition occurred approximately 3 weeks later compared to lynx in the south (∼47°N). Additionally, home ranges and core areas of females were greatly reduced (3–11x) following parturition. These observations, along with an estimation of activity budgets, suggest that there are both spatial and temporal restrictions affecting movement away from den sites even after kits are greater than 2 months old, indicating that females are limited to accessing prey resources within a constrained area (i.e., ≤10 km 2 ) while caring for dependent kits.