Conservation success stories #1: Reintroducing the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) back to the mountains of Colorado

Although it carries the name Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), this feline is not endemic to Canada. The Canada lynx’s range actually crosses into the United States, both to Alaska in the north, and through the Rocky Mountains to the state Colorado in the south.

Image by Michael Zahra, posted with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The Canada lynx has been the apex predator in the mountains of Colorado for a long time, but like many other large mammals, it experienced a sharp population decline once humans became good hunters. Its population size kept shrinking during the 20th century, and by the late 1970s it was considered to be locally extinct in all of Colorado. The culprits were mostly hunters who put out traps, but they were also affected by habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation due to humans beginning to utilize the area.

The lynx still thrived further north, but its absence from the Rocky Mountains had noticeable effects on the local ecosystem that now lacked one of the major apex predators in the region. This meant that animals such as snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), voles and other small mammals would see increased population numbers, which could lead to diseases spreading, too many plants being eaten, and other harmful effects for the ecosystem.

Reintroduction to the Colorado mountains

After being gone for over 20 years, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife had had enough, and began a conservation campaign where they wanted to reintroduce the Canada lynx to the wild mountains of Colorado.

Image by Keith Williams, posted with the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

The reintroduction program began in 1999 when 96 wild lynxes were released in the region. From this point onwards the Colorado Parks and Wildlife kept releasing wild lynxes, and by 2006 they had released a total of 218 lynxes that were all originally caught in the wild in Alaska or Canada.

The goal behind the releases was to establish a sustainable population, which could then reproduce and thrive in the region without depending on additional releases from the group.

All the released lynxes were equipped with very high frequency (VHF) and/or satellite transmitters in order for scientists to monitor their activity, and could learn more about mortality rates, reproduction, habitat use, and movement patterns from this equipment.

The status of the conservation program today

It’s been a good while since the last lynx was released in 2006, and while it is still too early to know about the long-term viability of the population, preliminary reports are looking good. According to the newly released Reversing America’s Wildlife Crisis: Securing the Future of Our Fish and Wildlife by the National Wildlife Federation, the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society, the program is considered a success so far.

Image by Michael Zahra, posted with the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The number of lynxes that are currently living in Colorado is believed to be between 150 and 200 animals, which is a bit lower than the amount released, but the population has shown to be reproducing and thriving despite this. Some lynxes have been confirmed to have been poached, and some people believe that it is the work of illegal fur poachers due to the fact that only the radio collar was found on the “crime scene”.

Thanks for reading

The Canada lynx population in Colorado seems to be doing fine, and would probably grow in numbers if someone is able to stop the illegal hunters in the area, so it’s a nice example of how a conservation program has been able to reintroduce a pretty big animal back into a region where it was originally locally extinct. I’ve use the scientific article "Evaluating the Canada lynx reintroduction program in Colorado: patterns in mortality" by Olivier Devineau et. al. as the primary source for this post, so check it out to learn more.

The «Conservation success stories» series

The Conservation success stories series focus on brining the good news about conservation biology, where actions made by us humans have led to reintroductions, increasing population sizes, or stopped an extinction process. I believe that this series is very important because conservation biology is usually filled to the brim with bad news, so it is important to remember that some efforts actually do pay off.

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