The imperiled Canada Lynx could receive newly proposed habitat protections in the southern Rocky Mountains.
On Wednesday, U.S. wildlife officials finalized a recovery plan for the Canada lynx and proposed new habitat protections in almost 7,700 square miles of forests and mountains in Colorado and northern New Mexico.
A final decision on the proposal is expected next year. The fate of the recovery plan is uncertain, though, under President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration given that officials during his first term unsuccessfully tried to strip the Canada lynx of their special protections.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's team via email for comment Wednesday evening.
What Are Canada Lynx?
Canada lynx are elusive wildcats that live in cold boreal forests and prey mainly on snowshoe hares. They have been listed as a threatened species since 2000.
There are currently about 1,100 Canada lynx in the contiguous U.S., and they are spread across five populations. The largest populations of Canada lynx are in the northeastern U.S. and northern Rockies.
Most areas suitable for Canada lynx are in Canada and Alaska. The Canada lynx are widespread in these areas and hunting and trapping of them is allowed.
Climate Change Threatens Canada Lynx Survival
Climate change is melting the snowy habitat of the Canada lynx and could also decrease the availability of their primary food source, the snowshoe hares.
Even under the most optimistic global warming scenario, the population of the Canada lynx is expected to decline across the contiguous U.S.
Officials are aiming for a minimum contiguous U.S. population of 875 Canada lynx over a 20-year period across the five populations.
What Are the Current Habitat Protections?
The southern Rockies are left out of Canada lynx habitat protections under current U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service policies. The current policies instead focus on recovery efforts elsewhere, including Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota and Maine.
Wildlife officials also want to add areas of protected habitat along the Idaho-Montana border. Meanwhile, protected areas in Wyoming would sharply decrease under the new proposal.
Habitat protections in Maine and Minnesota would not change under the new proposal.
Officials said they were removing some locations where Canada lynx are considered unlikely to thrive in the future while adding new areas considered more suitable for the animals' long-term survival.
"This is a significant change and a good one," Matthew Bishop, an attorney for Western Environmental Law Center who has been involved in efforts to protect lynx through legal action, told The Associated Press. "They weren't really committing to conserve lynx in Colorado anymore, and now they are."
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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