229486
225768
232597


Kamloops  

Lynx wandering North Shore caught and taken to the BC Wildlife Park has significant infection

Lynx caught, taken to BCWP

A lynx seen earlier this week around Brocklehurst and the North Shore has been captured by conservation officers and is in the care of the team at the B.C. Wildlife Park.

The male lynx is about three to five years old and doesn't show any outward signs of problems, animal care supervisor Tracy Reynolds says, but the fact he stayed so long in an area filled with humans was worrying. Officers brought the big cat to the wildlife park for assessment and they did find a potentially fatal infection.

"We did a full physical on it yesterday morning (it was caught Tuesday night)," she tells Castanet Kamloops. "He looks ok but he’s got an infection in his abdomen."

The animal care staff aren't sure of the cause and are waiting for some diagnostics and blood work to come back.

"In the meanwhile we’ve put him on antibiotics," she says. "What he has going on on his tummy is quite serious."

She adds that the infection could be why he was staying around populated areas as much as he was. Park staff have also been informed that he may have been catching feral cats in the area.

Staff will now care for the cat until he either recovers or succumbs to the infection she says. The expected timeline is about a month, but without knowing exactly what the infection is and how he got it means that could shift.

"We honestly don’t know what’s going on with him yet," Reynolds says.



More Kamloops News