# Camera trap captures Canada lynx in New Mexico, first proof in about 25 years

> A university student reviewing wildlife camera images in Carson National Forest has found clear photographs of a Canada lynx, a threatened species not documented in the state for roughly a quarter-century.

- Published: 2026-11-08 by Tickety-Boo News
- Section: Animals
- Location: New Mexico, USA
- Web page: https://ticketyboonews.co.uk/stories/camera-trap-captures-canada-lynx-in-new-mexico-first-proof-in-about/
- Original report: [Student finds proof of rare wild cat in northern New Mexico](https://phys.org/news/2026-11-student-proof-rare-wild-cat.html) (Phys.org)

## In brief

- A student's wildlife cameras captured a Canada lynx in Carson National Forest, northern New Mexico.
- It is the first documented evidence of the species in the state in about 25 years.
- The study with Wildlands Network will help forest managers protect lynx and other wildlife; a second survey is planned.

A Canada lynx has been photographed in northern New Mexico, giving scientists the first firm evidence of the species in the state for about 25 years. The pictures were taken by William Grooms, a PhD student at New Mexico State University, who found them while working through images from his first field season.

Grooms had spent the summer placing motion-sensing cameras across Carson National Forest for a two-year study of how forest structure shapes biodiversity in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Most of the photographs showed the expected residents of the San Juan Mountains: squirrels, rabbits, bears and foxes. The lynx was so unlikely a sight that he initially struggled to believe it.

He sent the images to experts for checking. "We're confident it's a lynx—no question about it," Grooms said.

The snow-loving cat looks much like a bobcat and weighs up to 20 pounds (9 kilograms). According to his adviser, mammalogy professor Jennifer Frey, it can be told apart by its grey or yellowish-brown coat, broad fur-lined paws and long legs, all handy for wading through deep snow after its main prey, the snowshoe hare.

Lynx were reintroduced to the San Juan Mountains between 1999 and 2006, yet numbers across the contiguous United States have stayed stubbornly low. The species is still listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Frey said proof of at least one lynx in northern New Mexico may lead state and federal governments to reconsider how they manage the animal and its habitat.

The find also highlights a tricky balancing act. Snowshoe hares shelter beneath fallen trees, logs and dense undergrowth, and lynx follow them there. Grooms noted that these same spruce-fir forests are often chosen for removal of hazardous fuel, because they can feed large fires when they burn.

His project, run with the conservation group Wildlands Network, builds on work the group began in 2022. Grooms is studying 10 species and the kinds of forest each prefers, using cameras at 120 sites in Carson National Forest. A second round of photography is planned for next summer.

The aim is to give forest managers practical, science-based advice on how thinning and timber harvesting affect wildlife that depends on closed-canopy conifer forest.

## Why it matters

Rare animals are hard to protect when nobody knows whether they are present, so reliable evidence of a lynx in New Mexico is a welcome boost for conservation. It also arrives as warmer, drier conditions raise the risk of severe wildfires across the West, making it vital that forest management protects people and wildlife alike. Research like this can help managers find the middle ground.