Fredericton lynx examined at Atlantic Wildlife Institute
Lynx captured in downtown Fredericton could be released soon
A Canadian lynx that was captured after a short chase through downtown Fredericton on April 16 is at the Atlantic Wildlife Institute for an assessment before it's released back into the wild.
"He's looking pretty good," said Pam Novak of the institute in Cookville, near Sackville, N.B. "We'll probably be making arrangements soon to get him back to DNR where they can get him out pretty quickly, so hopefully it's all going to end well."
Novak says they looked at why the seclusive lynx was in downtown Fredericton and why it was easily caught.
"It's an older cat," she said. "It probably just wandered down into that core for whatever reasons."
"I'm sure it was quite the ordeal that he went through over the weekend, so we're kind of just giving him the time that he needs to make sure that he has recovered from that ordeal, that he is doing well, and that there isn't any issues that we've missed along the way," said Novak.
The province lists the lynx as endangered, which means they really want to make sure the animal is okay before they release out into the wild..
"When you have an animal listed as endangered they do get that protection in terms of that every animal does count," said Novak.
"That's why the extra precautions are just being taken to make sure that everything is healthy with this guy, that we can get him back out and get him to where he belongs in the environment to keep functioning because they do matter out there."
The Department of Natural Resources will make its decision on when and where to release the lynx based on the information received from the Atlantic Wildlife Institute.
"I know they want to get the lynx out as soon as possible which we are in agreement to. We're talking days instead of weeks at this point for sure," said Novak.