Judge orders DNR to take additional steps to protect lynx

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A Federal judge has ruled that the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources will have to take additional steps to protect the endangered Canada lynx from trapping.

The Animal Protection Institute and the Center for Biological Diversity sued the DNR claiming trappers were catching and killing the endangered wildcats.

Marc Fink of Duluth, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the ruling is a victory for the lynx.

"Well it's a great victory for lynx," said Fink. "It means that they need to be protected from trappers, just as the Endangered Species Act provides for. Once a species is listed as threatened or endangered, the state should have taken steps immediately to protect that species. In this case, unfortunately, it's taken a number of years and a lawsuit to compel the state to do so."

The DNR has until the end of April to present the court with a plan for keeping lynx out of traps.

The DNR could chose to restrict some kinds of traps or the size of some traps in those parts of Minnesota where the Canada Lynx might be found.