For the second time in two days, a radio-telemetry collar has been found cut from an endangered Canada lynx in southwestern Colorado.
Officials with the Colorado Division of Wildlife found the second collar Friday in snow on Missionary Ridge, about 20 miles northeast of Durango.
No evidence of the lynx was found at the site, prompting wildlife officials to speculate that it had been shot.
The lynx, a female released in 2004, had given birth to three kittens this summer.
Without their mother, the kittens will die, said Tanya Shenk, a lynx researcher for the department. “They are just too young to make it on their own,” she said.
Another lynx collar was dropped into a slot at the Silverton post office Wednesday. That collar was removed from a male lynx that was born in southwestern Colorado last year.
Since 1999, 204 Canadian-born lynx have been released in Colorado. The state wildlife division is tracking 110 lynx that have been fitted with radio collars.
Nine conservation groups have offered a reward of $4,400 for information leading to the conviction of a person charged with the crime of killing the lynx.
“The lynx reintroduction program has been one of Colorado’s great conservation successes,” said Sloan Shoemaker of the Wilderness Workshop. “If these rare animals are being poached, we want to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.”
To provide information to the Division of Wildlife, call Drayton Harrison, a district wildlife manager in southwestern Colorado, at 970-375-6754. Tips can also be called in to Operation Game Thief at 877-265-6648. The conservation groups are taking information at 303-447-8655, ext. 1.
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com.
