Status of Canada Lynx in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, 2000-2004
Route B, Windels S, Schaberl J. 2009. Status of Canada Lynx in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, 2000-2004. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/GLKN/NRTR—2009/172. Natural Resource Program Center. Fort Collins, Colorado
Between 2000 and 2004 we applied several techniques to determine the presence and status of Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. During the winters of 2000-01 and 2001-02 we applied the National Interagency Canada Lynx Detection Protocol (NLDP) with slight modifications. Over the two winters we placed a total of 250 hair snares along transects and checked them twice at approximately 14-day intervals for a combined total of 7,045 exposure days. These hair snares resulted in no lynx detections. Three sets of cat-like snow-tracks were followed and measured during NLDP surveys, but genetic material was not collected. One snow-track met all lynx measurement criteria while the remaining two were inconclusive. After completing two years of NLDP surveys, we verified one male and one female lynx in the park by following incidentally-located snow-tracks until hair or feces were obtained for genetic fingerprinting. We conclude that lynx were present in the park during this time period, but at very low density.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Route, Bill; Windels, Steve; Schaberl, Jim
- Date of Issue
- 2009-02-23
- Publisher
- Natural Resource Program Center
- Units
- GLKN , NRSS , VOYA
- Keywords
- Absence (Biodiversity), Abundance (Biodiversity), Lynx, Lynx canadensis, Mammal Inventory, Minnesota, Presence (Biodiversity), Taxa List Only, Voyageurs National Park