Sixty-eight years ago, a hunter bagged a Canada lynx in the mountains of Emery County south of Price -- a trophy now stuffed and displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
It was the last time a Canada lynx was spotted in the Utah wilds."There were some tracks spotted in 1982 in the Uintas, but no one has seen a lynx in quite a while," said Richard Williams, a wildlife biologist for the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. "We know they were here at one time, we just don't know if there are any left."
State and federal biologists are currently conducting studies throughout northern Utah to find traces -- more accurately the fur -- of the elusive Canada lynx, a mountain-dwelling cousin of the bobcat that preys on snowshoe hares.
The Utah lynx project is actually part of a much larger one being conducted throughout the West by the Forest Service, the University of Montana, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and various state agencies to determine whether the lynx should be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The lynx is already listed as a sensitive species by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources even though they haven't been seen here in years.
"We've definitely got good lynx habitat," said Bill Bates, mammals program coordinator for the DWR. "And as trustee for wildlife, we want to know if we have lynx or wolverine or fisher (a weasellike animal bigger than a mink) or other carnivores that are hard to find and are rarely seen. If these species are out there, we need to be managing for them."
The search for the Canada lynx -- biologists are careful not to call it a hunt -- is being conducted in Utah forests from Vernal on the east to Salt Lake City on the west, from Logan on the north to the Manti-Huntington area on the south. The Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah are considered the best lynx habitat remaining in the state.
Throughout the Utah forests, biologists have chosen what they believe is the best lynx habitat to set up "hair snares." These devices consist of a small piece of carpet with small nails sticking out, kind of like a comb. The snare is attached to a tree, and the carpet is rubbed with beaver castor and catnip (a similar study in Colorado used Chanel No. 5 perfume).
"The theory is the cats will be attracted to the smell and rub up against the snare," Williams said. The protruding nails then snag hair samples that can be identified through DNA analysis.
To make the lure work better, the biologists also hang an aluminum pie plate from a tree. The plate blows in the wind and lures the curious cats.
Biologists leave the hair snares in place for two weeks and then take hair samples. The snares are then left out for another two weeks before being removed for the year.
This year, more than 150 hair snares were set up in the Uinta, Ashley, Wasatch-Cache and Manti-LaSal national forests. Additional studies may be conducted next year depending on funding for the project. Biologists recovered hair samples from all of snares, but they have not been analyzed yet.
"We definitely got some cat hair from some of them, but we don't know yet whether it is lynx or bobcat or cougar," Bates said. "Some of the samples from the Vernal area look real promising."
For some reason unknown to biologists, the hair-snares also attracted bears and elk.
If it is confirmed that lynx are present in Utah, "we will definitely manage differently than if they are not here," Williams said. "And if they are here, it makes it more probable we would try a transplant to supplement the population. Of course, Utah is in the historic range of the lynx, and they could always be considered for reintroduction if they aren't here now."
The Canada lynx looks somewhat like a bobcat. Not counting its tail, the reddish-brown cat measures about 32 to 36 inches long, and weighs up to 30 pounds. By comparison, bobcats are somewhat shorter but can weigh up to 35 pounds. Unlike bobcats, which are adapted to many different environments, the lynx is found only in mountain environments where snowshoe hares are abundant.
The hair samples recovered in Utah will be analyzed this winter at the University of Montana. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to make known its decision on Jan. 8 as to listing the Canada lynx as a threatened species.