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Issue 12, Spring 1990
Five of 18 Canadian lynx Lynx canadensis reintroduced recently to the Adirondack
Mountains in New York State have been killed. Four were killed by traffic on the roads,
one was shot by a farmer when it raided his chicken coops. A sixth died of unknown
causes. Nevertheless, 24 to 30 more lynx will be released during the winter of 1989-90
in this area, where they have been extinct for a century.
The reintroduction is part of the Adirondack Wildlife Programme conducted by the College of
Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York. Initial funding came from
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The New York State Assembly is
providing the main funding. The State Trappers' Association is among other donors.
Softwood logging and forest fires have been blamed for habitat modification that led to
the decline in the Adirondack lynx population. But since the creation of the Adirondack
Park and a Forest Preserve the habitat has been restored. Hunting and trapping of lynx
in New York State are now banned.
About 24 lynx are being imported from the Yukon and Alaska for release in the High Peaks
Wilderness Area of the Adirondack Park. All are being permanently marked for identification
purposes, and radio-collared to monitor their movements. Simultaneously, the Yukon lynx
population is being studied to determine hunting behaviour and habitat use by the source
population.
Scattered and infrequent reports of lynx in this century are thought to represent nomads
from lynx populations in Canada and northern New England.
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1172 Bougy-Villars, Switzerland
Cat News
CN15: Autumn '91
International Specialists Support Italian Lynx Project
Male Lynx Sharing Territory in Poland
Female Lynx Range and Cub Mortality
Black Forest Lynx Reintroduction Plan Rejected
CN14: Spring '91
Conservation of Lynx in Europe
European Lynx Specialists Confer
CN13: Autumn '90
French Hunters Call for Lynx Control
Newly released lynx dies in Vosges
Taxonomic Status of the Pardel Lynx
CN12: Spring '90
Hazards for Reintroduced Canadian Lynx in Adirondacks
CN11: Autumn '89
Issues 21 to Current
Will the Lynx Return to Central Italy
Editorial: Lynx, Tigers and Test-tubes
Snow Leopards and Lynx get Vast Reserve in Tibet
Cat Conservation Strategy and Action Plan
Lynx Predation on Sheep in France