Tolerance to humans of resting lynxes Lynx lynx in a hunted population

The tolerance of lynxes Lynx lynx to human presence and disturbance in a hunted population in Norway was studied using telemetry. Forest land within 200 metres from the nearest road or house was avoided by lynxes when resting (P < 0.01). The tolerance distance of resting lynxes towards intruding people was short (median 50 m), though strongly correlated with the horizontal vegetation cover (partial correlation, P < 0.02) and forest maturation stage (partial correlation, P < 0.02), but not with terrain inclination (partial correlation, P > 0.3). The lynxes did not enter steeper country (P > 0.4) or alter their daily walking distance (P > 0.7) after being disturbed. The data indicate that lynxes, even when suffering extensive, man‐induced mortality, may tolerate high human activity within their range as long as sufficient stands of undisturbed, mature forest with dense horizontal cover are present.