Lynx in Yellowknife, 'likely' connected to earlier sightings, killed by ENR officers

A lynx was killed in Yellowknife on Wednesday, an Environment and Natural Resource spokesperson confirmed.

Mike Westwick says ENR officers in the North Slave region found and killed a lynx near the Yellowknife Solid Waste Facility.

He says while the department's preference is to catch and move wildlife out of the city whenever possible, in this case the animal was a continued threat to public safety.

Westwick says the lynx was "very likely" the same wildcat involved in recent encounters with residents, which put them and their pets in danger.

The lynx also showed no hesitancy in "actively interacting with people or traffic" when ENR officers found it.

"Given the continued wildlife-human interactions in this case and need to protect public safety, our officers chose to dispatch of the lynx in a safe, humane manner when the opportunity presented itself," Westwick said in an email.

A necropsy will be performed on the animal's body by an ENR veterinarian and a biologist, he said, to assess overall health, condition and potential presence of disease in the wildcat.