The Cochrane Ecological Institute(CEI) is releasing previously orphaned lynx cubs back into the wild up in Edmonton, Canada...........First of its type release............The cubs seems to know how to hunt...........We hope for the best

CEI prepares to release two lynx

By Sarah Junkin

 

As part of a groundbreaking project, the Cochrane Ecological Institute (CEI) is preparing to release two lynx into the wild for the first time in their young lives.For almost three years the two brothers have called the institute home after they were found, motherless, as infants near Airdrie.

"We got them as tiny kittens," explained Emily Lamb, a spokesperson and former intern at the CEI. "We quickly built them a hodge-podge enclosure, but later we got enough funding and volunteers to build a much bigger one-acre, treed enclosure."

That's where the two have been living for their entire life, but on June 30 they were collared with GPS devices and CEI volunteers are watching closely to see how they're reacting. If all goes well, they will be released back into the wild in a few weeks.

"We've been watching them and doing behavioural studies to make sure they're hunting," explained Lamb. "And they are hunting mice and squirrels which is pretty brilliant
because they've never had a mom to teach them."

Lamb added that unlike canine creatures, bears and other animals, lynx don't necessarily hunt instinctively, but these two young animals nevertheless do seem to have picked up the skill somewhere along the way.
"Usually lynx are harder to release because they don't know how to hunt, so we're quite excited," she said. "We'll be observing them and making sure they're not getting tangled up in their collars before we release them."

The release site will be close to Chip Lake, approximately 90 minutes west of Edmonton, but wildlife officials will subsequently continue to track the animals."We'll have a post-release crew to monitor them," said Lamb adding the CEI is looking for funds to help with this part of the process.

"We want to monitor what they're eating, who they're hanging out with," she said. "So we're trying to raise money because the volunteers will need somewhere to stay for at least a month, and we want to help them with expenses."

Clio Smeeton, president of the CEI, says this post-observation part of the project is vitally important.
"This is a unique project in that captive-reared lynx released back into the wild have not been monitored using human observers and GPS collars before," she said. "This is unique in that it will tell us where they go and what they are doing."

But she admits funding is an on-going challenge for the group."It would be totally brilliant if some angel would just show up to help us out with this project," she said.But because this release is the first of its kind, Lamb admits that no one is completely sure what the outcome will be."It's a pretty big deal, and a lot of people have been involved," she said. "We're hoping everything goes well, but it's a work in progress."

For more information, or to donate to the project, call 403-932-5632, or visit http://www.ceinst.org/.
Sarah@cochranetimes.com