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CLICK ON "RAW: RARE LYNX SIGHTINGS" LINK TO  WATCH THIS GREAT VIDEO Raw: Rare Lynx Sightings Caught on Camera by Associated Press https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http: //www.wral.com/ski-run-surprise-lynx-stroll-past-crowds-in- rare-sightings/16403019/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYASoUMTQ5 MDY5MDQ2NjA4NjU3NzEyODIyGjFmYmFjNDZmYmZ lMjdjMzg6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNFN4WeVm 94EtacIxJo7o3UV-w9ucg Ski-run surprise: Lynx stroll  past crowds in rare sightings By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press DENVER — Some elusive and charismatic  lynx have been parading past awe-struck Colorado residents and visitors this winter, electrifying social media and giving biologists reason to smile. One of the rare, fluffy-looking cats strolled  nonchalantly across the Purgatory resort in southwestern Colorado last week,  threading through a crowd of skiers and snowboarders who swerved around  the animal and stopped to take videos. Two weeks earlier, a pair of lynx loped  along a mountain highway a few feet from Dontje Hildebrand's car. "My heart just about busted out of my chest when I realized what I was seeing," said Hildebrand, who was driving over  Molas Pass, about 15 miles north of the Purgatory resort, when he came  upon a female lynx and her kitten. Between 50 and 250 lynx live in the  wild in Colorado, mostly in the southwestern corner of the state, biologists say. That's down from previous estimates of 200 to 300,  but officials cite better calculations, not a population decline. They are protected under the Endangered Species Act in the  contiguous 48 states. Lynx, native to Colorado, virtually  disappeared from the state by the 1970s because of hunting, poisoning and development. The  state brought them back starting in 1999, transplanting lynx from Canada  and Alaska. The medium-size cats have tufted  ears, short tails and broad paws that work like snowshoes, letting them walk across powdery snow. They can grow to nearly 3 feet long  and 30 pounds. Wildlife officials don't know exactly  how many live in Colorado because  they are so hard to find, said Joe  Lewandowski, a spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. A few people report seeing them  every year, but those sightings don't help with the science of lynx  reintroduction because they are anecdotal, Lewandowski said. "But it's encouraging," he said. The state documents where the  animals live with a survey using  automated cameras mounted in  remote lynx country. The sightings indicate the cats are  getting comfortable in the high- altitude forests of southwestern Colorado, which are prime lynx habitat. The lynx appearance at Purgatory  on Dec. 28 was unusual because  so many people saw it, Lewandowski  said. Jim Russell was snowboarding that day when he and dozens of others watched the lynx mosey across a ski  run. "For being a wild animal, it was pretty  surprising to see him so relaxed  around people," Russell said. He and others took cellphone video  and posted it on social media, gaining  broad attention. "At first it kind of looked like a feral  cat," Russell said. But then he remembered seeing Hildebrand's photos of the Molas Pass lynx on the front page of the  Durango Herald , "and pretty quick  I was able to identify it." Lynx generally are not a threat to  people, Lewandowski said. They are docile, they eat mostly snowshoe hares and they likely would not take on anything as large as a human. But they also  are unpredictable, and people should never approach them or  feed them, he said. — Colorado Parks and Wildlife  lynx page: http://bit.ly/2iJ25BL — U.S. Fish and Wildlife lynx  page: http://bit.ly/2b1FyMP