Canada lynx protections deal sealed by US and environmentalists

Biden administration reverses Trump-era decision saying cat population had sufficiently recovered

A three-month-old lynx is seen with its mother at Sainte-Croix animal park in Rhodes, north-eastern France. AFP

A lynx climbs into a tree in Bear Wood at Wild Place Project, Bristol, UK. PA

The boreal lynx, a species threatened with extinction in France, is the 'poor relation' of large predators in terms of preservation, its defenders say. AFP

A four-month-old lynx explores its home in the Bear Wood exhibit at the Wild Place Project in Bristol, UK. PA

A four-month-old lynx walks beside its mother as it explores its home in the Bear Wood exhibit at the Wild Place Project in Bristol. PA

A four-month-old lynx kitten. PA

Lynx kittens explore their home in the Bear Wood exhibit at the Wild Place Project. PA

A lynx kitten. PA

Quinas, a young female Iberian lynx, is released in Torrenueva, Ciudad Real, Spain. The region of Castilla La Mancha has an ongoing programme to recover the lynx population. EPA

Kittens play with their mother at Sainte-Croix animal park in Rhodes, north-eastern France. AFP

A lynx kitten. Photo: Exmoor Zoo

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US wildlife officials have agreed to craft a new habitat plan for the snow-loving Canada lynx that could include more land in Colorado and other western states where the rare animals would be protected.

A legal agreement made public on Tuesday said that the US Fish and Wildlife Service faces a 2024 deadline to draft the new plan for the wild cats after settling a legal challenge from two environmental groups — Wild Earth Guardians and Wilderness Workshop.

US District Judge Dana Christensen issued an order late on Monday approving the settlement.

The groups sued to enforce a prior court ruling from Ms Christensen that said federal officials wrongly excluded areas of Colorado, Montana and Idaho when they designated almost 104,000 square kilometres in 2014 as critical for the lynx’s long-term survival.

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About 700 Indian Ocean humpback dolphins inhabit Abu Dhabi waters. They are classed as endangered and are included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. Photo: Environment Agency Abu Dhabi

The sand gazelle is also on the list of endangered animals. Jaime Puebla / The National

A female Arabian leopard at Al Ain Zoo. The zoo focuses on conserving wildlife and is involved in research and breeding. Photo: Al Ain Zoo

The striped hyena has disappeared from many of its former habitats and is listed as 'near threatened' in others. Silvia Razgova / The National

The Arabian gazelle is on the list of threatened mammals in the Arabian Peninsula. Pawan Singh / The National

Researchers believe the Arabian wolf no longer exists in the wild in the Arabian Peninsula. Photo: Wikicommons

On land designated as critical, federal agencies are required to consult with wildlife officials before taking or allowing any activities that could destroy or alter the habitats of a protected species. Those consultations can potentially lead to restrictions of logging in federal forests or limitations on dirt roads used for recreation.

Ms Christensen cited the presence of a reproducing lynx population in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Agency officials had earlier concluded that Colorado and adjacent areas of Wyoming and New Mexico were “not essential” for the recovery of the species, pointing in part to low population densities of snowshoe hares that lynx eat.

To comply with the judge’s order, the Fish and Wildlife Service will evaluate which parts of the Southern Rockies and elsewhere are critical for lynx and propose them for potential protections by November 21, 2024, a statement provided by agency representative Joe Szuszwalak said.

Lynx are elusive, forest-dwelling animals. There is no reliable population estimate, but several hundred are believed to roam parts of the US Rocky Mountains.

The animals also are found in Minnesota, Maine, Washington state and occasionally Michigan.

They were reintroduced to Colorado beginning in the late 1990s and listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act across the contiguous US in 2000.

During Donald Trump’s presidency, officials said the lynx had recovered and no longer needed protection after their numbers rebounded in some areas. President Joe Biden’s administration reversed course in November and agreed to keep the lynx’s threatened species protections. That did not resolve the dispute over what areas they would need to survive.

“There’s a lot of really good habitat in Colorado — wilderness and really remote areas,” said John Mellgren, a lawyer who represented the environmental groups that reached the settlement.

But he added that those areas face increased pressure as trees in forested areas are killed by beetles, wildfires and other problems that are being worsened by climate change.

Some scientists say climate change could undo progress in lynx recovery by melting away their snowy habitat and decreasing the availability of snowshoe hares.

US government biologists in 2016 predicted some lynx populations would disappear by 2100. That was based on models predicting widespread and substantial habitat losses because of climate change.

Under Mr Trump, officials shortened their time span for considering climate change threats, from 2100 to 2050, because of what they said were uncertainties in long-term climate models. A government assessment based on that shortened time span concluded lynx populations had increased versus historical levels in parts of Colorado and Maine.

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Stepan is carried by its owner to the train heading to Poland at the main train station in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty

A Ukrainian refugee sits with her pets at a holiday village turned into a temporary shelter in Goren, northern Israel. AFP

A woman carrying an animal in a pet basket arrives in Przemysl, Poland, on March 23, 2022, after a train journey from Ukraine. Getty

Samir Khuder, Anna Ponomaryova and their dog, Fedya, enjoy the fresh air after a night spent in the basement they used as a bomb shelter after a rocket hit a shopping mall in Kyiv. Getty

Anna Ponomaryova feeds her dog, Fedya, in the basement under the residential building used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv. Getty

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A volunteer plays with a cat inside a cage in Lviv. Getty

A volunteer pets a cat at a shelter in Lviv. Getty

A man pets a dog as Ukrainian refugees cross into Moldova, near the village of Palanca. EPA

A girl kisses her pet rodent outside a five-storey residential building, part of which collapsed after a shelling. AFP

In Nadarzyn, Poland, a vet examines the cat of a Ukrainian refugee. Vets working for a centre that receives refugees examine, vaccinate and issue health certificates for pets that the people fleeing Ukraine bring with them. AP

A Ukrainian woman holds her dog as she waits along others at Dacia Camp, near Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, before heading to the airport to board a plane to Israel. AFP

A woman who fled Mariupol pets a cat onboard a bus at the Veselo-Voznesenka border point in Rostov, Russia. EPA

Ukrainians Oria Oscaria and her brother Ego with their pet dog after arriving in Cizur Menor, northern Spain. AP

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A dog collected in Ukraine is prepared for surgery for serious injuries to its hind legs at the Ada veterinary clinic in Przemysl, Poland. AP

A woman carries a pet dog as people who fled Ukraine walks through the border checkpoint near the Moldovan town of Palanca. AFP

An internally displaced woman pets a cat at a schoolyard in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP

A sedated dog collected in Ukraine undergoes an X-ray before surgery for serious injuries to its hind legs at the Ada veterinary clinic in Przemysl, Poland. AP

A man holds Sascha, a baby goat with deformed hooves rescued from Ukraine, at the Ada veterinary clinic in Przemysl, Poland. AP

A child on a bus for refugees pets a cat in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters

Antonina, 84, sits in a wheelchair and holds her 12 dogs at a triage point in Kyiv after fleeing Irpin. AP

Nina, who fled Ukraine for Moldova, holds a her cat inside a pet carrier at the border crossing in Palanca, Moldova. AP

A Ukrainian refugee who fled the Russian invasion of her country sits with her pet at a holiday village turned into temporary refuge in Goren, northern Israel. AFP