Colorado Parks and Wildlife shared an extremely special wildlife moment on social media yesterday, when they posted a video of two Canada lynx padding across deep snow towards the cover of an Aspen grove.
The 27-second clip, which you can watch below, was captured by Mario Angeles near Silverton in southwest Colorado recently. In their post, CPW explain why it's so unusual to see a Canada lynx here.
"In the 1990s, we began a seven-year effort to reintroduce lynx back into Colorado. While still federally threatened and State endangered, Colorado is now home to around 150-250 lynx so seeing one (or two) is a rare treat!"
There are tens of thousands of this elusive creature in much of Canada and Alaska, but they exist in tiny numbers in the US and southeastern Canada due to habitat destruction and competition from other animals like coyotes. The department explains that its staff are now in their tenth year of a lynx monitoring project.
The Canada lynx is a medium-sized wildcat. With long black tufts on their triangular ears and black tips on their bobbed tails, this distinctive cat typically stands about 20 inches tall at the shoulder and can weigh up to 24 lbs – about twice the weight of a house cat.
Like its cousin the bobcat, the Canada lynx is not an aggressive animal though it should be treated with respect. If you are lucky enough to see one in the wild, practice wildlife safetey: give it lots of space, enjoy it through binoculars and don't try to feed it.
