Due to low snowshoe hare populations, lynx hunting and trapping is closed in Game Management Units 7 and 15 by emergency order through June 30,2015.
Wildlife Biologist Jeff Selinger said Kenai Peninsula lynx are managed using a harvest tracking strategy.
Selinger: “When snowshoe hare populations, which are the main food source for lynx, are low, trapping seasons are closed. As snowshoe hare populations increase so do lynx numbers and trapping is allowed. Snowshoe hare populations eventually peak and then decline, the lynx population follows a similar pattern, lagging behind by a couple of years.”
Although hunting for lynx is usually open even when trapping is not, this year both are closed due to the increase in predator calling and successful ground shootings of lynx
To view the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Emergecy Order closing lynx hunting and trapping click here.
