UNITED
STATESCANADAPACIFIC
OCEANATLANTIC
OCEANNORTH
AMERICAWhere
Canada
lynx liveABOVE SNOW); OBLACHKO / DREAMSTIME (PENCIL); FIONA ROGERS / MINDEN PICTURES / GETTY IMAGES (CHIMP); STEPHEN DALTON / MINDEN PICTURES / JOHN CONRAD / GETTY IMAGES (POUNCING); LIGHTWAVE PHOTOGRAPHY / GETTY IMAGES (AGAINST TREE); ROBERT POSTMA / AGE FOTOSTOCK (PEEKING^
GETTY IMAGES (IGUANA); FUSE / GETTY IMAGES (BLOODHOUND); KB7RUT / DREAMSTIME (SEA LION); MUSAT CHRISTIAN / DREAMSTIME (FOX); MARTIN WALZ (MAP)They’re hoping to lure a lynx into the enclo-
sure so they can fit it with a GPS collar
that’ll keep track of the cat’s location. The
scientists mostly want to learn when and
where the cat crosses roads that cut
through its habitat. This may help them fig-
ure out ways for the cat to get across its
territory more safely as it hunts.
Since so few of these lynx live in the area,
the researchers aren’t sure if the trap will
work. But after they leave, a lynx wanders
into the cage, sniffing the meat. The trap-
door shuts behind it. When the scientists
return a few hours later, they’re thrilled to
see the cat. They tranquilize the animal,take it out of the enclosure, and collar it.
Over the following five months the
researchers track the feline. They then ana-
lyze the results along with data collected
from 10 other cats that had been collared
over a two-year period.“We learn a lot from
this process,” Squires says. So when and
where did the lynx cross the road? The
felines mostly did this at night, darting out
from roadside areas with large amounts of
vegetation—and potentially lots of cars.
To protect the lynx, Squires’ team sug-
gests to planners that forest conditions
might affect where the cats cross the road,
and that lowering the nighttime speed limitThis feline was
once hunted for
its soft fur.An adult Canada
lynx is two and
a half to three
feet long.A Canada lynx’s
foot is about
as long as an
iPhone.A CANADA
LYNX POUNCES
AFTER ITS PREY
EMERGES FROM
ITS HIDEOUT.14 NOVEMBER 2017