Encounters with lynx in Finland are rare, but becoming more common as their population increases.
Satu Elo spotted a handsome lynx while driving near her home in the southeastern Finnish city of Kotka.
Last Tuesday evening, she and a friend saw the wild feline wandering along the road on Tiutinen, an island district of the city. After a while, it appeared at a nearby bus stop.
“We stopped to watch as it calmly lay down on a pile of sand behind the bus stop. We opened the windows and filmed it, and it wasn’t afraid of us at all. It was less than 10 meters away from us,” says Elo.
After lying still for a while, the lynx continued its journey deeper into the island.
Tiutinen, which is accessible by road from the mainland, is home to about 330 people.
According to Elo, she posted a video of the lynx on the neighbourhood Facebook page, since many island residents have dogs, cats, and even chickens.
“A few years ago, I saw a deer that had been killed by a lynx on the island, so I decided to warn residents to keep an eye on their animals,” she says.
“Last winter, I heard a lynx yowling in the forest and after a while it came out, but I couldn’t see it very well because it was dark. This time I saw it really close up, and it was an amazing experience,” she tells Yle.
An increasingly common guest
Ohto Salo, the Southeast Finland regional game manager at the Finnish Wildlife Agency, says such encounters are rare, but becoming more common. With minimal hunting in the past couple of years, the lynx population has grown.
Last autumn, the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) estimated the lynx population at 2,990–3,620 – not counting the reindeer herding area, which covers more than one third in Finland. That estimate represents a jump of some 20 percent from the previous year.
Last year, the government loosened restrictions on hunting lynx, along with other large predators. In 2024, courts overturned most of the hunting permits that had been issued for the wild cats.
Lynx are generally shy, but backyard sightings have increased as the population has grown. Experts say they have become less fearful of humans, and are coming closer to built-up areas in search of food, such as roe deer and hares.
“There are now lynx sightings near settled areas in southeast Finland and other parts of the country,” Salo says.
This lynx likely came to Tiutinen via the road, as they don’t like to swim, Salo says – although he says that they do sometimes when in pursuit of food.
“I guess that the actual swimming ability of lynxes has not been studied in Finnish conditions,” he says.
While lynx do not pose any direct threat to humans, he adds that any lynx that causes significant damage should be reported to the Wildlife Agency.
