State lynx population dwindles

Colville DNR collects data

From January to March, bun­dled up in a snowsuit and beanie cap, Colville Depart­ment of Natural Resources Bi­ologist Scott Fisher is doing something that may not seem crucial at first glance: he is counting bunny poop.

The tallying of rabbit drop­pings, specifically Snowshoe Hare droppings, is part of an ongoing study tracking the Ca­nadian Lynx in Washington State. The Lynx, a wild feline predator related to the Cougar and Bobcat, is tied to the Snowshoe Hare because it is its main food source.

By counting rabbit drop­pings, Fisher can estimate the num­ber of hare in an area and therefore the potential for the area to support Lynx popula­tions.

 “As goes the hare, so goes the Lynx,” said Fisher, who gave a presentation sponsored by the Friends of the Little Pend Or­eille Game Range on April 1. The presentation, which drew nearly a full house, was held at the Colville Community College.

Eating habits

Lynx need to consume a Snow­shoe Hare every other day in order to survive and lynx populations have been most consistent in areas where the hare is also present.

The interest in the Lynx is tied to its dwindling numbers in the state. Listed as a “threatened” species in Wash­ington by the state and federal governments, there are esti­mated to be no more than 26 lynx left within state borders.

In order to verify how many lynx are left and what areas they are doing well in, the De­partment of Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Washington State Depart­ment of Fish and Wildlife have been doing a cooperative study on the feline. The area of focus is from the east side of the Cascades to the Idaho state border, with recognized Lynx recovery zones in the Kettle Crest Range, an area in the “Wedge,” as well as on the east side of the Little Pend Oreille game range.

The lynx project is coopera­tively underwritten by the state agencies, as well as by the Bu­reau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Con­servation Northwest, Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account (ALEA) Grant Volun­teers, Se­attle City Light, Washington State University, the University of Washington and the Oregon Zoo.

What was considered some of the prime lynx habitat in Cen­tral Washington burned in the Thunder Mountain fire of 1994 and again in 2006 during the Tripod fire that consumed 177,000 acres.

“It took the heart out of lynx habitat,” said Fisher. “And it was most unfortunate because it changed our plans for studying lynx in managed ver­sus unmanaged habitat to studying lynx in managed ver­sus catastrophically disturbed habitat.”

Under these difficult circum­stances, Fisher and other biolo­gists have made an effort to trap and collar Lynx during the winter months when Lynx are active, but other carnivores are in hibernation.

Fourteen Lynx have been trapped and collared since 2006; making for 13 males and one female that the project has been tracking. Of that group, the project has lost contact with four cats; had one dropped collar; one removed collar; four have died and one was harvested in British Co­lumbia. Unlike Washington, British Columbia allows for the legal trapping of lynx and is­sues permits for annual hunts.

“In Canada, lynx are common and are trapped regularly,” Fisher explained.

Snowshoe hare study

In addition to Fisher’s efforts to count Snowshoe Hare pellets during the winter, a graduate student from the University of Washington is live trapping and collaring the hares in order to tally the population. So far, 11 rabbits have been collared and one mortality has been in­vestigated.

Fisher said the in­vestigation was something like “Bunny CSI.”

“They had swabs to collect sa­liva and then DNA test it in or­der to determine what killed the rabbit,” he said.

All of these efforts are on be­half of an animal that Fisher said could “blink out.”

“Lynx are very lean and they are really one meal away from extinction,” he said. “Although we have talked about recovery program efforts in the state, they have received a lukewarm response so far.”

Fisher said the project is in the process of being turned over to the Washington State Univer­sity Carnivore lab.

“What we know about lynx so far is their connection to the snowshoe hare, and their abil­ity to live in managed environ­ments,” he said. “Logging and lynx are not mutually exclu­sive, for instance. They do get hit on the road every now and then but are pretty mellow and docile creatures and have been easily observed by recreation­ists.

With a two to three year life span, the lynx can recover if enough females are in one area.

“We don’t see a lot of natural recolonization in areas where females are not already estab­lished,” said Fisher. “The fe­males don’t move much, so ex­panding to a territory outside of their home range to establish new colonies is not very likely.”