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Parker, G.
Status report on the Canada lynx in Nova Scotia
2001  Full Book

The most recent (2000) COSEWIC status report recommended the status "NOT AT RISK" to the Canada lynx at the national level, a recommendation approved by COSEWIC in May, 2001.That report could find no evidence of decline in populations or distributions of lynx over the past two decades and given their high potential productivity and extensive pattern of dispersal combined with reduced harvests and a greater awareness of the need for proactive lynx management, the future of the species in Canada was considered to be secure. However, that report also recognized examples of local southern populations which have experienced reductions in both numbers and distribution. The lynx population of Nova Scotia is one of those examples and although its range in the province appears to have remained stable for the past 40-50 years, lynx do remain isolated in distribution to parts of Cape Breton Island and do not benefit from immigrants from other populations. For this reason, and because of potential threats to Cape Breton Island lynx from sympatric bobcats and eastern coyotes, forestry operations and possibly other localized factors not yet fully understood (e.g. canine distemper), it appears prudent for Nova Scotia to assess the status of the Cape Breton Island lynx in a more conservative fashion. For those reasons it is recommended that the lynx of Nova Scotia be assigned "SPECIAL CONCERN" under the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act, a status which means that the species is particularly sensitive to human activities and specific natural events but, at this time, is not an endangered or threatened species.

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