Decision Delayed On Listing Canada Lynx

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it now has until Jan. 8 to decide whether to list the Canada lynx as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service is aware there is disagreement on various aspects of the species’ status and biology among experts within affected state wildlife agencies and some professional societies,” said Ralph Morgenweck, director of the Mountain-Prairie Region.

The federal act allows a six-month extension in making final determinations in situations where there is substantial disagreement about available data.

The elusive feline has distinctive black-tufted ears, a short head and large paws for running on the snow.

In October, then-Idaho Fish and Game Director Steve Mealey quashed plans to move lynx from Canada to the Panhandle over last winter and the next. A month earlier, he tentatively approved the project as a means to avoid having the cat protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Mealey then said the state worried that if the cat was protected, hunting and trapping could be at risk.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station has formed a scientific team made up of experts in the ecology of lynx, forests, snowshoe hares and wildlife conservation to review and evaluate various scientific information.