Spotting a lynx is a rare sight, but spotting five? It’s almost unheard of.
That’s why this video, recently taken by Parks Canada employee Roberta Tesar, has garnered so much attention online. Tesar posted her video of a lynx family taking a leisurely stroll through Manitoba’s Riding Mountain National Park last week, and it’s since been viewed more than 150,000 times.
According to reports, Tesar was driving down a side road not far off Highway 19, which runs through the southern tip of the park, when she spotted the mother lynx. It wasn’t until she stopped her vehicle to get a better look that she realized there was more than one.
“Then we noticed two of the kittens, and then a third,” she told CBC News.
When she began recording the video, there were three of the wild cats frolicking along the dirt road. Two others remained relatively camouflaged by the forest until they started to move and one of the younger cats chased them. Only then did it become apparent that there were five in total.
“[They were] so playful,” Tesar said. “It was a pretty cool sight to see.”
Tesar has never seen a group of lynx as large as this, though she has spotted one or two at a time in the past. Living and working in a national park, she’s treated to regular wildlife sightings, and has a definite edge over others when it comes to spotting elusive animals like these.
She admits that she’s lucky, acknowledging that most people are happy just to see these animals on video. Because even if smartphones and social media have made it easier than ever, there’s nothing like seeing these formidable cats in the flesh.
