Summit County Citizens Voice

PHOTO BY TANYA SHENK, COLORADO DIVISION OF WILDLIFE. Conservation groups have teamed up to offer a $5,300 reward for information on an illegal lynx killing near Heeney in mid-January.

Conservation groups pitch in $5,300 to increase the reward for information on illegal lynx killing near Green Mountain Reservoir in mid-January

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Conservation groups have teamed up to increase the reward for information on a lynx poaching near Heeney in mid-January. Six groups pooled money to raise the reward to a total of $5,800.

“The Colorado Division of Wildlife understands that help from the public is critical in solving these kinds of cases,” said  Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton. “We appreciate the assistance of these organizations in stepping forward to help us catch the person responsible for this crime.”

Wildlife biologists picked up a mortality signal from the lynx’s collar Jan. 18. They found the collar and nearby evidence that the cat was killed illegally. The carcass was missing.

The thirteen year-old female, was one of the first  lynx to be released in Colorado when a reintroduction effort started in 1999. Known to researchers as AK-99-F05, she was brought to Colorado from Alaska and was released in the San Juan Mountains.  Over the next several years, she ranged hundreds of miles across Colorado, living for periods of time near Silverton, in Rocky Mountain National Park, and above Cataract Lake in northern Summit County, and crossing Vail Pass at least once.

Tips on the lynx killing can be made anonymously through the Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-877-265-6648. (more…)

Filed under: Environment, wildlife | Tagged: Colorado Division of Wildlife, conservation, Environment, Heeney, lynx, lynx conservation, lynx poaching, poaching, Summit County News, wildlife | 1 Comment »