HSUS Sues, Lynx Win
January 12, 2007
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This imperiled cat species faces a number of threats, including injury and death in indiscriminate fur traps set for other animals.
They're not out of the woods yet, but Canada lynx can tread a little easier thanks to two recent HSUS legal victories.
In a settlement reached with the HSUS and HOWL (Help Our Wolves Live) Jan. 12, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources agreed to take aggressive action to protect the Canada lynx from its fur trapping program.
The Canada lynx—in Minnesota and throughout its range in the contiguous United States—is currently protected at the federal level by its classification as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, which is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. State-level agencies can be held responsible for violating the federal ESA if they authorize and manage activities, such as fur trapping, that harm protected animals.
For some, this decision comes too late. This Canada lynx died in a snare because of the Minnesota DNR's trapping policies—and the demand for fur.
The HSUS and HOWL had sued the Minnesota DNR—charging it with violating the ESA—after becoming aware of records indicating that more than one dozen lynx had been injured or killed by indiscriminate traps in Minnesota since 2002.
As part of the settlement, the Minnesota DNR is required to develop a habitat conservation plan and to obtain a permit from the federal Fish and Wildlife Service under section 10 of the ESA. The conservation plan must contain a variety of strategies to avoid, minimize and mitigate the taking of lynx. "Taking" is an ESA term for conduct that harasses, harms, injures, kills or traps a protected animal.
Federal Court Tells U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service To Try Again
Last September, in a separate case, The HSUS, HOWL and a coalition of conservation groups won a victory when a federal court ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to classify the Canada lynx as threatened rather than endangered under the ESA was unlawful. The court asked the agency to reconsider whether to list the species as endangered throughout Minnesota and the rest of its remaining range in the United States. A classification as "endangered" rather than "threatened" entitles the species to greater legal protection and extends stronger prohibitions on "taking" and export. The HSUS is monitoring the situation closely and anticipates the relisting of the Canada lynx as endangered in the near future.
Fur Trapping Continues To Menace Wild Animals, Dogs and Cats
Although both of these outcomes will help protect the rare Canada lynx, the animals legally targeted by trappers—fox, raccoons, coyote and many others—will continue to suffer and die in traps so that some people can put ornamental trim on their jackets. Dogs and cats will also continue to be injured and killed in fur traps, especially as development continues to encroach on wildlife habitat.
Trapping's Non-Target Toll in Minnesota Continues To Rise
The HSUS has reports on more than 35 dogs and cats caught in traps in Minnesota since 1980. The actual number is probably vastly higher, since most cases likely go unreported. On Nov. 8, 2006, the Minnesota Winona Post reported on a 7–month-old puppy caught in a leghold trap just the week before. On Sept. 18, 1985, the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch reported the story of a boy who "stumbled into a leghold animal trap that mangled his foot and required the amputation ... of four of his toes."
Help Canada Lynx and Other Animals—Say No to Fur
While the HSUS and others fight to protect fur-bearing animals in the courts, the public can do its part by pledging never to buy or wear fur. Such actions remove the demand that sends trappers into the woods with devices that injure and kill non-target animals like the threatened lynx, as well as birds, deer, and domestic dogs and cats.
Watch our video "Cruelty by Design" to learn more about trapping, fur farming, and other ways that animals suffer and die to produce fur and fur trim.
http://www.hsus.org/furfree/news/hsus_sues_lynx_win.html