KABETOGAMA, Minn — A trail camera stationed by researchers in northern Minnesota as part of their work to study wolves in Voyageurs National Park has captured stunning footage of a Canada lynx.
Amazingly, the lynx just strolled up to the Voyageurs Wolf Project trail camera and sat right in front of it like a professional actor hitting their mark.
A social post from researchers exclaimed, "We captured some really neat footage of lynx this past year on our cameras but this is definitely the coolest. In fact, might be the best video of a lynx we have ever captured, not least because the lynx decided (to) sit right in front of the camera..."
The 40-second clip has gone viral and picked up by several media outlets.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said Canada lynx were once hunted and trapped in Minnesota, but due to declining numbers in Canada, the lynx has been protected in Minnesota since 1984. In 2000, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service classed the Canada lynx as a federally threatened species. The DNR has dedicated a web page for reporting lynx sightings in Minnesota.
The Voyageurs Wolf Project was set up in 2021 by the University of Minnesota to study the summer ecology of wolves on the Kabetogama Peninsula in Voyageurs National Park.
The project's trail cameras have captured cougars, bears, and — of course — wolves and their eating habits in the wild.
The Voyageurs Wolf Project is funded by the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF).
