One Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer had a furry end to 2025.
On New Year’s Eve day, Constable Stubbington observed a chain of lynx crossing the road. The two adult lynx and three kittens were traversing Hwy. 527, which runs west of Lake Nipigon, Ont., connecting Thunder Bay and Armstrong.
Stubbington was headed south when he came across the animals, and paused his trip to capture a video. The clip shows four lynx, and Stubbington can be heard noting a fifth off camera.
The OPP North West Region shared the video online, writing in their caption, “Encounters like this are a reminder of how incredible our northern wildlife really is, and how much happens in the forests around us that we rarely get to see.”
Lynx are indeed a rare sighting. They live throughout Canada’s boreal forest, but are characteristically elusive and hypervigilant of humans. If you do spot one, you can differentiate it from other wild cats and canines by looking for their long ear tufts, wide paw tracks, and stubby, black-tipped tails.
“You can hear in the video that I said, ‘I thought they were wolves at first,’” says Stubbington. “But sure enough, it was lynx. They just crossed the road like they didn’t care about us, and went off into the bush again.”
It made sense to assume wolves, considering they often travel in packs. Lynx, on the other hand, are solitary animals, making Stubbington’s finding especially extraordinary.
“I initially thought it was one male and one female adult with three kittens. I’ve learned that it was probably an adult female and three kittens all born from the same mature female, who are following their mother until they get old enough to leave,” says Stubbington.
Lynx kittens usually branch off from their mothers within a year of being born, after she has nursed them and taught them to hunt.
Stubbington, who is a wildlife enthusiast and videographer in his spare time, has seen 14 lynx since joining the OPP’s Armstrong detachment—though, before now, never more than two at a time. His proudest sighting to date was a lynx chasing a fox, which he believes was luring its feline foe away from its food. While he didn’t catch this interaction on video, he feels lucky to be immersed in Canadian wildlife.
“I’m glad that others got to experience the same encounter I did, to some extent,” he says. “It’s one of the bonuses of being this far north—I get to share some pretty cool stuff.”
Related Story Do you know the facts about fishers? The truth behind 4 common fisher misconceptions
Related Story Wildlife associations are concerned about Alberta’s decision to lift limits on wolverine trapping
Related Story Up your wildlife photography game with these tips from a professional