{"id":53327,"date":"2026-10-29T19:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T23:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/?p=53327"},"modified":"2026-10-29T19:46:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T23:46:00","slug":"canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest\/53327\/","title":{"rendered":"A camera set up to study forests in New Mexico\u2019s Carson National Forest photographed a Canada lynx in June, the first confirmed in the state in about 25 years according to New Mexico State University, and it lives in the kind of forest crews thin to fight wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A doctoral student sorting through camera-trap photos from a forest study in northern New Mexico found something he could hardly believe at first: a Canada lynx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">William Grooms, a Ph.D. student at New Mexico State University (NMSU), spotted the cat in images taken in June 2026 by a motion-activated camera in Carson National Forest. According to the university, it\u2019s the first lynx documented in the state in about 25 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grooms and his team, working with the conservation group Wildlands Network, had set up cameras at 120 sites across the forest to work out how its structure affects ten different species. The project builds on <a href=\"https:\/\/wildlandsnetwork.org\/stories\/rare-carnivores-new-mexico\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a camera survey Wildlands Network started in 2022<\/a> to look for Pacific martens and Canada lynx in the same forest. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/kfoxtv.com\/news\/local\/nmsu-researcher-finds-rare-wild-cat-on-camera-first-documented-in-nm-in-over-25-years\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KFOX14<\/a>, the camera that picked up this lynx was in the San Juan Mountains, which straddle the border between New Mexico and Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1013\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-2.jpg\" alt=\"A Canada lynx walks through deep snow beside bare trunks in a conifer forest, caught by a trail camera\" class=\"wp-image-53320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-2.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A game camera in Quebec\u2019s Abitibi-T\u00e9miscamingue region caught this Canada lynx in snowy forest, the kind of motion-activated gear the New Mexico team used. Photo: Rocktiff via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The photos went off to experts for confirmation. In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.organmountainnews.com\/nmsu-researcher-canada-lynx-carson-national-forest-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">university\u2019s announcement<\/a>, Grooms says the team is \u201cconfident it\u2019s a lynx \u2013 no question about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also turned up early. When the university announced the find in late October, the team had barely started on the pile of images from this first season, and Grooms admits they were thrilled to land something like this so quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where it was found isn\u2019t a total shock. Colorado released lynx in the San Juan Mountains between 1999 and 2006, and by 2008 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/story\/2008-12\/fish-and-wildlife-service-conduct-status-review-new-mexico-population-canada-lynx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service<\/a> (FWS) wrote that the lynx seen in northern New Mexico were \u201cbelieved to be dispersers from the State of Colorado reintroduction efforts.\u201d In other words, cats that had drifted over from Colorado\u2019s releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lynx exploratory movements in Colorado and beyond\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/ccoo38Atous?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Canada lynx weigh up to 20 pounds (9 kg). They\u2019ve been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act since 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jennifer Frey, a professor of mammalogy (the study of mammals) at NMSU and Grooms\u2019s adviser, says lynx are very rarely seen and knowing they\u2019re here gives people \u201csomething like an inner joy.\u201d Then she adds: \u201cBut there\u2019s also real-world ramifications.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s because of where the cats live. Lynx depend on dense spruce-fir forests, where they hunt snowshoe hares, and those are exactly the stands that often get thinned out to cut the risk of wildfire. As Grooms puts it, \u201cthese types of forests and conditions are often targeted for hazardous fuel removals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1013\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-3.jpg\" alt=\"Piles of cut brush sit among tall conifers along a thinned stretch of Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico\" class=\"wp-image-53321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-3.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest-3-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brush piles left after thinning along the Highway 150 corridor in Carson National Forest, part of a Forest Service project to reduce wildfire risk. Photo: Preston Keres \/ USDA Forest Service (public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Frey says the photo \u201cmay create additional considerations for how state and federal governments manage this species and its habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The federal government finalized a revised critical habitat designation for the species in July 2026. It covers about 14,030 square miles in Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Washington, and the New Mexico areas included in the 2024 proposal were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/link\/fr\/91\/43732\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">left out of the final rule<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grooms and the team will be back in the forest for a second round of fieldwork in the summer of 2027.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A doctoral student sorting through camera-trap photos from a forest study in northern New Mexico found something he could hardly &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"A camera set up to study forests in New Mexico\u2019s Carson National Forest photographed a Canada lynx in June, the first confirmed in the state in about 25 years according to New Mexico State University, and it lives in the kind of forest crews thin to fight wildfires\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/canada-lynx-new-mexico-carson-national-forest\/53327\/#more-53327\" aria-label=\"Read more about A camera set up to study forests in New Mexico\u2019s Carson National Forest photographed a Canada lynx in June, the first confirmed in the state in about 25 years according to New Mexico State University, and it lives in the kind of forest crews thin to fight wildfires\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":53319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"eco_video_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53344,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53327\/revisions\/53344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}