Reward offered in wildcat shooting

Federal and state officials are offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person who shot and killed a protected wildcat in Aroostook County earlier this week.

On Monday, the Maine Warden Service received a call from a hunter who had found a dead and bloodied Canada lynx lying on a road between the towns of Hamlin and Van Buren. Wardens retrieved the lynx from the side of Irving Road, located not far from Route 1A, and immediately launched an investigation with the help of federal authorities.

The lynx, a 25-pound adult male, had been shot through the hindquarters with a high-powered rifle. The shot passed through and shattered both hind legs, likely leading to massive blood loss, investigators said.

On Thursday, officials with the warden service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service brought the dead lynx to Bangor and held a press conference to ask the public for any information on the case. They also announced a reward of $1,000 from each agency for information leading to a conviction.

Poaching of a lynx is a federal crime because the cats are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Anyone convicted of killing a threatened species faces a fine of up to $25,000 and-or six months in prison.

Investigators say the area, which is a mix of forests and potato fields, is a popular destination for hunters. Monday was opening day of Maine’s second week of moose hunting. It is also open season for some game birds and deer for bowhunters.

They hope another hunter or someone else in that area between 8 and 10 a.m. Monday may have witnessed something.

“It’s early in the hunting season, so a lot of people are going to be out there,” said Chris Dowd, the resident agent in charge of New England for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “And this is an area frequented by a lot of hunters.”

DIF&W estimates that there are at least 500 lynx in Maine, which is the only state in the East to support a self-sustaining population of the cats. They typically average 20 to 25 pounds and have large, fur-covered paws that allow them to chase prey in deep snow.

Lynx also can look similar to bobcats, especially at a distance. But Lt. Pat Dorian of the warden service said that doesn’t matter in this case because no one should be targeting any cats in Maine right now.

“There is no way it can be construed to be an accident, in my mind’s eye, because right now there is no open season for any wildcat,” said Dorian.

DIF&W officials said there have been four incidents of lynx being shot and killed in Maine during the past three years. Earlier this year, a Van Buren man was sentenced to 21 days in jail in one of those cases.

Lynx also have been in the news recently in Maine for other reasons.

Last week, DIF&W officials agreed to ban larger foothold traps throughout northern Maine in order to avoid trappers inadvertently snaring lynx. The settlement was a result of a federal lawsuit filed by an animal rights group alleging that the department was violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing trapping techniques that could harm or kill lynx.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also re-examining a controversial habitat designation for the lynx after allegations that a high-level political appointee in the U.S. Department of the Interior may have interfered with the decision.

Anyone with information on the Oct. 8 shooting of the lynx can call DIF&W’s Operation Game Thief at 800-ALERT-US or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s special agent at 207- 469-6842.