Hello Yukon, Marty and Monty! Meet the three Canada lynx of our Living Northwest Trail!

Posted by Craig Newberry, Communications
Photos by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo

Hello, Monty!

All our new Canada lynx, who arrived in Seattle last year, are now ready to meet you in Woodland Park Zoo’s Living Northwest Trail. All three live in the brand-new lynx facility and came to Seattle from zoos around the United States. Yukon, 3, came from Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo, Monty, 3, arrived from Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo and Marty, 3, came from Minnesota Zoo.

Yukon explores his habitat in the Living Northwest Trail.

Two of the young male lynx were recently renamed, so that both the animals and their names can be ambassadors for the Pacific Northwest. The lynx were named Monty and Yukon by good friends of the zoo, who have been generous supporters of the zoo and its wildlife conservation efforts. The names were inspired by the mighty Yukon River in Canada and Montreal, one of the country’s largest cities in Quebec. The third lynx, Marty, has been enjoying the habitat since it opened in November 2022.

You can really see that lynx trait—tufted ears—here on Marty.

Wondering how to know who's who? Yukon is the easiest to distinguish of the three. He is the smallest and is browner in color as opposed to the gray coloring that Marty and Monty have. His ears are small in proportion to the rest of him and unlike the round-shaped eyes that the other two have, his eyes are more almond-shaped.

Marty and Monty look the most similar to each other with the most obvious difference being that Monty has two bright white toes on his left rear foot. The markings on their faces are also a little different with Marty having thicker black marks lining the tufts of fur on his cheeks. Monty also has black markings on his cheek tufts, but his are smaller and narrower and are located more in the middle of his tufts as opposed to the edges.

All of these cool cats live in a fission-fusion dynamic in the new exhibit, which means they can move in and out of any possible social combination. When you visit, you can expect to see a single lynx, duos and perhaps all three lynx on any given day.

We can't get enough of Monty's gorgeous eyes!

More About Lynx:
Lynx live in high mountain habitats of northern forests across North America. Globally, this species has a low risk of extinction. However, in Washington state, lynx are endangered. These mammals rely on healthy forests and plentiful snowpack to hunt their prey. Climate change is reducing snowfall and more frequent wildfires are burning habitat in the region, making lynx and their prey much rarer. Woodland Park Zoo and partners are studying both lynx and wolverines to help recover their populations in the Cascades.

Yukon appears to be the lightest in color of the three males.

Woodland Park Zoo advocates for saving species and spaces around the Pacific Northwest through its Living Northwest Program, including lynx, wolverines and many others. The exhibit and its companion website, “We Are Living Northwest,” provide visitors with numerous conservation actions to take to help the species that share the region’s iconic landscapes.

Peek-a-boo with Marty.