Radio-collar lynx poached in Summit County

(Denver Post)

One of the first lynx reintroduced into Colorado from Canada was killed near Green Mountain Reservoir last weekend, ending the life of the 13-year-old female hundreds of miles from her original Colorado home.

Sean Shepherd, DOW's district manager in Summit County, said investigators have no doubt the lynx was killed by a human. The lynx is a protected species.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife reintroduced lynx into the San Juan Mountains in 1999. The lynx killed over the weekend in northern Summit County was one of the first relocated to the San Juans from Canada.

The collar on the female lynx provided years of information to officials monitoring her travels. In recent years, she had often moved from the Vail Pass area to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Shepherd said during her life, she had continued to move north through Colorado and was continuing that northward journey with her jaunts into Rocky Mountain National Park.

She had most recently lived above Cataract Lake above Green Mountain Reservoir and was last seen along Heeney Road on the afternoon of Jan. 16.

A mortality signal from the radio collar that the lynx was wearing was received Jan. 18.

DOW investigators recovered the collar, but the carcass of the lynx was missing. Officers determined from evidence found in the area that the lynx was likely killed nearby.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the DOW Hot Sulphur Springs Office at 970-725-6200, or Operation Game thief at 1-877-265-6648. A reward is available to anyone providing information leading to conviction of the crime.