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Lynx found illegally killed
Lynx disappeared from Colorado about 1973
Herald Staff Writer
To help
Authorities encourage anyone with information about the recent killing of a Canada lynx in Silverton to call Operation Game Thief at (877) 265-6648. Callers may remain anonymous.
A Canada lynx was illegally killed in Silverton with a bow and arrow, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife is offering a reward for information about the incident that leads to a conviction.
The Canada lynx is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and killing it is illegal.
Division of Wildlife personnel found the carcass Oct. 7 in the Kendall Mountain area, the agency announced Friday.
The lynx appeared to have been killed by someone using a bow and arrow.
The male lynx was wearing a radio collar and was born in 2005, the Division of Wildlife said.
The collars emit a signal when the animal dies, said Drayton Harrison, district wildlife manager.
Lynx have been poached in Southwest Colorado before.
Two lynx were shot dead, one near Hermosa Park and one north of Silverton, in separate incidents in October 2006.
“It has become a big issue,” said Ryan Demmy Bidwell, executive director of Durango-based Colorado Wild. “Unfortunately, there are only a couple of hundred lynx in Colorado, so every lynx lost is a significant loss from a conservation perspective.”
Colorado Wild and the Center for Native Ecosystems, based in Denver, are offering a $1,000 reward in addition to the DOW’s unspecified reward.
More than 200 lynx have been released in Colorado since 1999, and more than 100 kittens since have been born.
The grayish cats have large ears with furry tufts and broad, padded feet that enable them to run in the snow. Adults weigh 20 to 30 pounds. They prey on snowshoe hare, other small mammals and ground-dwelling birds, according to the Division of Wildlife.
Before the state reintroduction program, lynx disappeared from Colorado about 1973.
Earlier this year, Colorado was excluded from the lynx’s nationally recognized critical habitat in a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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