These video news headlines brought to you by these fine sponsors:
Canada lynx found in the Thumb returned safely to the wild by DNR - pics and video
Craig Routzahn
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 13:34:14 EDT
click on the picture to enlarge
With a casual glance or two back, a Canada lynx that was captured in the Thumb left its holding carrier in under a minute Friday and trotted off over the snow into a stand of pine trees in central Schoolcraft County. The lynx had been brought north to be released in a cooperative venture by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Detroit Zoological Society. "It went perfectly," said John DePue, a DNR wildlife biologist who supervised the release of the cat. "She didn't dart out of the carrier like some other animals would have, but that's pretty typical lynx behavior." The DNR received a report on March 16 of a possible lynx preying on a farmer's domestic geese in the Thumb. The lynx was described as easily approachable and wasn't spooked by the farmer's presence. The lynx was held at the Howell Nature Center wildlife rehabilitation facility in Livingston County until she was able to be transferred to the Detroit Zoological Society for a health assessment. The female cat, believed to be less than a year old, measured just over 4 feet long and weighed 18 pounds. She was treated for a foot wound, parasites and dehydration. DNR wildlife biologist Cody Norton said the lynx gained more than a pound, eating rabbits and quail while under the care of Detroit Zoological Society staffers. The cat was transported north about 400 miles before a small group of DNR staffers released her into the wild.
