A reclusive male lynx photographed crossing a highway near Silverton on Saturday could be a more common sight for a couple of months, Patt Dorsey, the southwest regional wildlife manager for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said Tuesday.
“It’s mating season, so males may be on the move looking for females,” Dorsey said. “It’s not unusual to find them around Silverton.”
Wildlife officials are calling the reintroduction of Canada lynx into the Weminuche Wilderness in 1999 a success, Dorsey said.
“There have been several generations of lynx born in Colorado,” Dorsey said. “They have migrated to Silverton, Telluride and Creede.”
The lynx photographed Saturday didn’t have a tracking collar such as the first generation of lynx. So, unless the collar fell off or was torn off, the lynx likely is a Colorado native, Dorsey said.
Lynx are reclusive, living usually above 8,000-feet elevation and subsisting mainly on snowshoe hares, Dorsey said. They will eat other animals such as squirrels.
daler@durangoherald.com