10 Fall 2017 conservationnw.org
Restoring Wildlife
Working with First Nations
to reduce lynx mortality
RESTORING NATIVE WILDLIFE
Bottom: Live captured lynx on Derickson
family trapline, April 2016.
Photo: Okanagan Nation Alliance
In our Working for Wildlife Initia-
tive program area the third season of
a collaborative transboundary project
is well under way to decrease Canada
lynx mortality, better understand their
movements, and expand the involve
-
ment of First Nations, tribes, British
Columbia trappers, and the provincial
government in lynx conservation.
For years, lynx mortality from legal
trapping and hunting in southern Brit
-
ish Columbia has been recognized as
an important factor limiting the spe-
cies' population in Washington's North
Cascades, as well as its sustained recolo-
nization of the southern Kettle River
Mountain Range to the east. Begin-
ning in 2015, Conservation Northwest
helped launch a pilot research project to
gather new data on lynx movement and
reduce mortality in southern B.C. near
the Washington border. en in 2016,
we expanded our support, providing
$17,000 to the Okanagan Nation Alli
-
ance for a staffer to help coordinate the
project and about $15,000 for collars
and other equipment. Additional finan-
cial support was also provided by Mc-
Danel Foundation and other sponsors.
ank you!
Under the leadership of the Okana-
gan Nation Alliance (of which the
Colville Confederated Tribes is a mem-
ber), this collaborative effort worked
with First Nations and other trappers
in British Columbia north of the Kettle
Range and Loomis Forest. Instead of
trapping these rare felines for their fur,
they installed live traps to capture lynx
to be collared and released, thereby di
-
rectly reducing lynx mortality on that
trap-line while also increasing our un-
derstanding of how lynx travel across the
landscape in southern British Columbia
and northeast Washington.
"We started the pilot project to fos
-
ter research and the relationships with
individuals and organizations essential
to protecting the transboundary lynx
population in northern Washington
and southern British Columbia," said
Dave Werntz, Science and Conserva
-
tion Director. "Applying lessons from
the first two years, the project contin-
ues this winter under the leadership of
Dan ornton's lab at Washington State
University."
ree lynx were trapped and collared
over the 2015-16 winter, and last winter
another five lynx were collared includ
-
ing two females. e collars either have
dropped off or will drop off the animals
Alaina Kowitz Communications and Outreach
Associate, akowitz@conservationnw.org
Top: Wildlife biologists with Washington
Department of Natural Resources tag
a sedated female lynx trapped in the
transboundary region. Photo: WDNR
"Lonnie," Canada lynx. Photo: Scott Fisher, WDNR
this fall, and we look forward to retriev-
ing them and analyzing the trove of data
they hold. is will help inform future
lynx conservation efforts by tribal na-
tions, public agencies, and non-profit
organizations including Conservation
Northwest.
is winter, Dr. Dan ornton's
Mammal Spatial Ecology and Conserva
-
tion Lab at Washington State University
will further expand the project, aiming to
collar another 10 lynx including within
areas bisected by potential movement
barriers such as highways. Dr. ornton
is also actively monitoring for new lynx
documentations in Washington state.
Stay tuned for more updates on this ex
-
citing work as they become available!
