Center for Biological Diversity


For Immediate Release, October 22, 2015

Contact: Andrea Santarsiere, (303) 854-7748, asantarsiere@biologicaldiversity.org

Boise Court Hearing Will Focus on Future of Trapping That Kills, Injures Threatened Lynx

BOISE, Idaho— In a case that could restrict trapping across much of Idaho, a federal judge in Boise will hear arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups over illegal trapping of Canada lynx, a species that’s protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The groups filed a lawsuit against the state of Idaho in June 2014 for allowing fur trapping that results in injury and death of the rare snow cats.    

“There are just too few of these beautiful cats for Idaho to allow trapping that gets them caught, injured and killed,” said Andrea Santarsiere, an attorney with the Center. “In recent years there’s been a dramatic rise in trapping for bobcats and other furbearers, and it’s putting the survival of the lynx at risk.” 

Since January 2012 four lynx have been reported as trapped in Idaho. It is likely that more have gone unreported.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday before Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the James A. McClure United States Courthouse in Boise, Idaho.

Plaintiffs include the Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project, Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians, and are represented by the Center for Biological Diversity and Western Environmental Law Center.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 900,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


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