After Rocky Start, Lynx Reintroduction Program Makes a Comeback

Tracker Jake Powell didn’t need biologists to tell him the first batch of Canada lynx released in Colorado’s rugged San Juan Mountains was struggling.

The 54-year-old hunting guide was hired by the state Division of Wildlife to follow the big, padded paw prints of the longhaired lynx to see how they were doing. What he saw after the first release in February 1999 disturbed him.

“There was little prey out there, very few snowshoe hares,” Powell said. “You know when you’re walking in a starved animal’s tracks.”

Four of the first five lynx released starved to death, unleashing a torrent of criticism from foes and supporters of the plan to reintroduce the elusive, tuft-eared cat to Colorado’s high country.

The state Division of Wildlife quickly changed its procedures. Instead of releasing lynx immediately, biologists kept the cats caged for about three weeks to fatten them up and freed them later in the winter when there was more prey.

This year, just one of 55 lynx has died of starvation. Three others have died--hit by cars, shot, and killed by bobcats. That compares with 22 deaths of 41 animals released last year.

“I think most of the biologists who’ve been involved in this program are very, very encouraged by what’s happened so far,” said Gary Patton, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and program advisor.

Last spring, the federal agency named the lynx a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act; Colorado lists the cat as endangered.

The medium-sized cats are thriving in Alaska, but have significant populations in only three of the lower 48 states: Washington, Montana and Maine.

Colorado was the southernmost point of the cat’s historic range. Trapping, poisoning and development had wiped out its population, with the last confirmed sighting--before the reintroduction program--in 1973 near Vail.

An earlier attempt to restore lynx in the Adirondacks in New York state failed. So far, so good in Colorado, Patton said.

“I think the animals are showing they’re quite capable of living in this ecosystem,” he said.

Powell, whose ancestors trapped lynx in southern Colorado, was encouraged by what he saw last winter. The cats were finding a lot of food and were even stashing leftovers.

The next big test is whether the lynx will reproduce. Biologists monitoring the animals with regular and satellite radio collars were excited when one female stopped roaming around last spring, right around breeding season. But they have found no signs of a litter.

Some observers worry because it could take a couple of years for the lynx to become established enough to start reproducing. Meanwhile, no more releases are planned.

“Each year there’s going to be a certain amount of mortality, so your total number of animals is going to continue to decline,” Patton said. “Without additional transplants, you’re kind of running a somewhat dangerous line.”

University of Colorado biology professor Marc Bekoff, who condemned the reintroduction program as hasty and sloppy early on, has eased his criticism since improvements were made. But, he said, the state needs to see the program through successful reproduction.

“The bottom line for these things is once you start them, you’ve got to finish them,” he said.

Bruce Gill, the state biologist overseeing the program, said biologists want to be sure the animals are adapting to the mountains, which are more arid than the Canadian terrain and aren’t as full of the cat’s favorite food, snowshoe hares.

There are other potential obstacles, said Diane Gansauer of the Colorado Wildlife Federation. “The future of this program has always been dependent on more than the biology,” she said. “It’s also dependent on the political winds and finances.”

Gansauer’s group supports lynx restoration with the caveat that the impact on land use, hunting and other activities be addressed. Opponents, including ranchers and outfitters, unsuccessfully sued to stop the program because they fear lynx habitat would be closed to them.

Gansauer, whose group includes hunters, hasn’t heard of any problems. “By the same token, questions about timbering and livestock grazing haven’t been fully answered yet,” she said.

The Colorado Farm Bureau’s concerns deepened after the lynx was declared a threatened species, which can lead to restrictions on land use to protect the animal.

“Our concern is what do you do with a listed species. There’s already discussion of curtailing snowmobilers, hikers and cross-country skiers,” said Ken Morgan, a biologist for the group.

Powell is convinced that lynx and people can coexist, and he is looking forward to trekking into the mountains in the winter to check on the cats. It is kind of personal for him because he suspects that he unwittingly trapped a lynx in the 1950s when he was a child.

“So I think it’s kind of neat to get to be a part of maybe helping them come back,” he said.