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SUMMIT COUNTY — Colorado’s lynx reintroduction program reached an important milestone this spring.
Biologists with the state’s Division of Wildlife have found that lynx transplanted from Canada and Alaska in recent years have reproduced and the those kittens also are repoducing.
An estimated 200 lynx are roaming the state, and the White River National Forest, which sprawls into Summit and Eagle counties, is seen an important area for them.
While lynx are renowned for being shy and reclusive, they have been spotted and tracked in Summit County, most recently this spring, when several locals reported close encounters with the big-pawed, tuft-eared cats.
“It was the morning of Mothers’ Day, right after I saw the Loch Ness monster,” joked Gary Severson, talking about his morning-coffee encounter with a lynx in the driveway of his home near Breckenridge. Severson lives on a 17-acre parcel of land with lodgepole pines, spruce, fir and aspen trees.
“First I thought it was a bobcat. It was just taking a leisurely walk, right down the middle of Highpoint Drive,” Severson said.
A red fox showed up and gave the lynx a wide berth, Severson added.
Severson said he reported the sighting to the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The agency monitors lynx sightings throughout the state, hoping to identify the routes the animals travel and gain insight into how the cats use the habitat that’s available.
Altogether, state biologists have recorded hundreds of lynx locations on the White River National Forest.
While most of the cats have set up territories in the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado, colonies have developed around Aspen, Leadville and Copper Mountain.
About the same time Severson saw a lynx in his driveway, a pair of lift-maintenance workers at Keystone also spotted one of the cats at the base of North Peak.
“I was coming down on a snowmobile and saw something moving a ... I thought it might be a lynx,” said Eric Benson, the lift maintenance worker who first spotted the cat. “It was kind of cautious at the road crossing and then I realized it had a collar. It just kind of wandered of into the woods.
“I was totally amazed. So few people see them in the wild.”
Benson’s co-worker, Josh Stone, spotted what was presumably the same lynx just about the same time.
“At first, I didn’t know what it was. I thought maybe it was a German Shepherd,” Stone said. “It was walking parallel to the road and it didn’t really seem to care that I was there.”
Rick Thompson, a wildlife biologist who works with Keystone on lynx conservation issues, has also tracked the cats at the ski area. In one case, Thompson said he followed tracks within 100 yards of the Keystone gondola.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife reported that the number of lynx births dropped this spring as compared to previous years.
In a press release posted on the agency’s Web site, biologists said they think that constantly adding new lynx to the population mix may actually be having a detrimental effect on breeding. As a result, the agency will suspend releases of new lynx for now, waiting to see how the existing population fares in the coming years.
Vail Daily, Vail, Colorado
Biologists with the state’s Division of Wildlife have found that lynx transplanted from Canada and Alaska in recent years have reproduced and the those kittens also are repoducing.
An estimated 200 lynx are roaming the state, and the White River National Forest, which sprawls into Summit and Eagle counties, is seen an important area for them.
While lynx are renowned for being shy and reclusive, they have been spotted and tracked in Summit County, most recently this spring, when several locals reported close encounters with the big-pawed, tuft-eared cats.
“It was the morning of Mothers’ Day, right after I saw the Loch Ness monster,” joked Gary Severson, talking about his morning-coffee encounter with a lynx in the driveway of his home near Breckenridge. Severson lives on a 17-acre parcel of land with lodgepole pines, spruce, fir and aspen trees.
“First I thought it was a bobcat. It was just taking a leisurely walk, right down the middle of Highpoint Drive,” Severson said.
A red fox showed up and gave the lynx a wide berth, Severson added.
Severson said he reported the sighting to the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The agency monitors lynx sightings throughout the state, hoping to identify the routes the animals travel and gain insight into how the cats use the habitat that’s available.
Altogether, state biologists have recorded hundreds of lynx locations on the White River National Forest.
While most of the cats have set up territories in the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado, colonies have developed around Aspen, Leadville and Copper Mountain.
About the same time Severson saw a lynx in his driveway, a pair of lift-maintenance workers at Keystone also spotted one of the cats at the base of North Peak.
“I was coming down on a snowmobile and saw something moving a ... I thought it might be a lynx,” said Eric Benson, the lift maintenance worker who first spotted the cat. “It was kind of cautious at the road crossing and then I realized it had a collar. It just kind of wandered of into the woods.
“I was totally amazed. So few people see them in the wild.”
Benson’s co-worker, Josh Stone, spotted what was presumably the same lynx just about the same time.
“At first, I didn’t know what it was. I thought maybe it was a German Shepherd,” Stone said. “It was walking parallel to the road and it didn’t really seem to care that I was there.”
Rick Thompson, a wildlife biologist who works with Keystone on lynx conservation issues, has also tracked the cats at the ski area. In one case, Thompson said he followed tracks within 100 yards of the Keystone gondola.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife reported that the number of lynx births dropped this spring as compared to previous years.
In a press release posted on the agency’s Web site, biologists said they think that constantly adding new lynx to the population mix may actually be having a detrimental effect on breeding. As a result, the agency will suspend releases of new lynx for now, waiting to see how the existing population fares in the coming years.
Vail Daily, Vail, Colorado
