Lynx Released into the Upper Peninsula

A Canada Lynx was released into the Upper Peninsula yesterday, April 15. The lynx, which was captured in Ruth, MI, was treated by the Detroit Zoological Society for a foot injury, dehydration, and parasites. The lynx was released in great health, according to John DePue, a Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist who supervised the release process.

The DNR partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along with a local trapper to capture the lynx and evaluate its health. The lynx is a female and is estimated to be less than a year old. She was captured in mid-March after the  DNR received reports of a lynx preying on a farmer's domestic geese.

Why the U.P.? DePue says that the DNR looked at a number of different factors, including prey densities and land ownership. The lynx was placed in Schoolcraft County, where the DNR believes she will have the highest probability of survival. The large lynx's new home has blocks of forested space, few roads, and is not near densely-populated areas.

According to the Michigan DNR, Canada Lynx in boreal spruce-fir forests in the northern portions of North America, mostly in Canada and Alaska. Their diet consists of mostly snowshoe hares, rabbits, and beavers. Even though this kind of lynx isn't normally found in Michigan, there are cases of individuals moving around the state.

DePue says that the help that the DNR received from the Detroit Zoo and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the catch and release process of the lynx extremely smooth, thanking them for taking such good care of her while she was in captivity.