Newborn lynx found in Colorado

DENVER, Colorado – State wildlife biologists have found 10 lynx kittens, the first newborn lynx documented in Colorado since 2006.

Colorado Division of Wildlife researchers located five dens with kittens, seven female and three male. The division didn’t disclose the locations.

Biologists say there could be more kittens. They say a drop in snowshoe hares, the cats’ main prey, might have caused a recent decline in kittens.

Colorado has released 218 lynx from Alaska and Canada since 1999 to restore the long-haired mountain cat to the state. A total of 126 lynx kittens are known to have been born in Colorado.

Lynx are native to Colorado but were eliminated by 1973, victims of trapping, poisoning and development.