Blatantly plagiarized from the Denver Rocky Mountain News:
State to discontinue reintroduction if 14 of new group of 28 starve
By Berny Morson
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
The Colorado Division of Wildlife, which is releasing 28 more lynx into the wild this week, said Monday it will recommend an end to the reintroduction program if half the animals starve.
Of 13 lynx released in south-central Colorado earlier this year, four have starved and one was recaptured because it was doing poorly. That animal was later operated on for a hernia and will be released later.
Division spokesman Todd Malmsbury said the 50 percent figure was chosen based on experience with other predator reintroduction programs.
For example, 40 percent of river otters introduced in the 1980s died, but the program is considered successful because Colorado now has a reproducing population of the animals, Malmsbury said.
Officials have said previously that half of the lynx could die. But the announcement Monday was the first time they have talked of ending the program because of mortality.
Malmsbury said the program would end only if the deaths occur from starvation, not if the lynx are killed in ways that are natural for wild animals, such as a clash with a mountain lion.
Wildlife biologist Gene Byrne said the lynx have a better chance of survival in warm months, when several species of birds and animals are available for them to eat that are not around in the winter.
"If they can't make it through the summer, we know the crunch is going to be in the winter," Byrne said.
The 28 animals to be released this week were captured in Canada and the Yukon.
Of the eight lynx still in the wild from previous releases, six have been tracked recently by their radio collars.
The other two have not been located in more than a month. That doesn't mean they are dead. The collar emits a distinctive beeping pattern when an animal dies.
Byrne said the collar could have failed or the lynx could have traveled outside the area being monitored or gone into a place where signals are blocked.