Sur les traces du lynx

Abstract

On the Traces of the Lynx - Through the ages, the lynx lived in the forests and mountains of Europe, but its relationship to man remained ambiguous. Already present in Greek and Roman mythology and scientific treatises, during the Middle Ages the lynx was often perceived as an evil, diabolical and jealous animal, useless to its environment and to man. It inspired man's imagination and was thought for example to bury its urine in the earth, where it was transformed into carbuncles. Mysterious and misunderstood, its classification was uncertain and it was most often assimilated into the wolf family. Yet Gaston Phébus classes the lynx with the felids and Hildegard of Bingen considers it as a positive, independent and useful animal. Hunted and trapped for its fur, the lynx had all but disappeared from Europe by the end of the nineteenth century. Today the lynx is better known, but its reintroduction into its natural habitat in Western Europe still gives rise to contradiction and controversy.