Student finds proof of rare wild cat in northern New Mexico
Armed with dozens of motion-sensing cameras, William Grooms spent this past summer documenting wildlife across Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. It was his first field season collecting photos for a two-year study to understand how forest structure influences biodiversity in the Southern Rocky Mountains.
A student at New Mexico State University discovered photographic evidence of a rare Canada lynx in Carson National Forest, northern New Mexico, during his summer field study. Ph.D. candidate William Grooms, who documented wildlife with motion-sensing cameras, initially did not believe his eyes when he saw the lynx among squirrels, rabbits, bears, and foxes in his first batch of images.
Jennifer Frey, Grooms' adviser and a professor of mammalogy, confirmed the photos showed a lynx, emphasizing the rarity of the sighting as the species was last documented in New Mexico around 25 years ago. Canada lynx, weighing up to 20 pounds, have grayish-yellow coats and large paws adapted for deep snow, preying on snowshoe hares.
Despite reintroduction efforts in the San Juan Mountains, the species remains threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Grooms' research, conducted in collaboration with Wildlands Network, aims to study forest structure and management practices affecting wildlife like lynx and hares, which rely on snowy spruce-fir forests with dense understories.
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