The European lynx population (excluding Russia) has been estimated at 8,000. Populations in central and southern Europe are small and fragmented, although there are larger populations in Fennoscandia and the Baltic states (Breitenmoser et al. 2000). Lynx in Europe occur in ten distinct subpopulations (IUCN 2007). Detailed status and trend information can be found on www.kora.unibe.ch/en/proj/elois/online/index.html (ELOIS, the European Lynx Online Information System).

The lynx's stronghold is a broad strip of southern Siberian woodland stretching through eastern Russia from the Ural mountains to the Pacific, and the Russian lynx population has been estimated at 30,000-35,000 (Matyushkin and Vaisfeld 2003). Although large portions of its range lie in China, status there is poorly known, and the government considers the population to be decreasing in a recent global survey of lynx status (Govt of US 2007). While lynx presence in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia is uncertain, in the country of Mongolia Matyushin and Vaisfeld (2003) estimate the lynx population at 10,000.

In a survey of 37 lynx range state governments, 30% considered their national populations to be decreasing, 35% stable, 14% stable to slightly increasing, 16% increasing, and 8% unknown (Govt of US 2007). The population in Afghanistan is considered to have decreased (Habibi 2004).

Stable