Abandoned lynx delivered to park

Officials unsure whether owners will face action

N.S. NOKKENTVED, THE OLYMPIAN

EATONVILLE -- An abandoned lynx, raised in captivity and captured earlier this month, has found a new home.

Officials from Thurston County Animal Services took the male lynx to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park on Monday morning.

The rare cat was captured recently in a rural Thurston County neighborhood. Owners of the lynx released the caged animal and left town, leaving the cat to roam a residential neighborhood near Capitol Forest.

A concerned neighbor called Thurston County Animal Services on Dec. 31. On the morning of Jan. 2, the cat was lured into a cage and taken to the county animal shelter.

The 30-pound lynx is 1 to 3 years old and in good health.

Northwest Trek already has four lynxes, one aging male and three females. The male is about 16 years old and has had health problems. The three females are siblings and are about 12 years old.

Captive lynxes are expected to live to their mid- to upper teens. The new lynx will stay in quarantine for at least 30 days before Northwest Trek officials try to integrate it with the other cats.

Lynxes are native to Alaska, Canada and the Northern Rockies and Cascades. The brownish-gray cat is distinguished by its large paws, long legs and black ear tufts.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the lynx as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act in March 2001. The lynx also is listed as threatened by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

It is illegal to keep a lynx captured in the wild. And it is illegal to release a lynx raised in captivity. It remains unclear whether any action will be taken against the owners who released the cat.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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