Wild North rescues orphaned lynx cub near Drayton Valley
An orphaned lynx is getting some help surviving, thanks to an Alberta wildlife rehabilitation organization.
Last week, the Wild North Alberta wildlife rescue received a call from Fish and Wildlife that they had recovered a "unique animal."
"Some workers on a job site in Drayton Valley discovered a deceased lynx that had been hit by a vehicle on the road," explained Dale Gienow, the rescue's executive director.
The Fish and Wildlife officers found that two young kittens were lingering around their mother. One of the youngsters was successfully captured and brought to Wild North.
Typically, a young lynx stays with their mother until around 10 months old, at which point it would start to live by itself. This cub is around seven to eight months.
Gienow says efforts to locate the second kitten continue.
"[At that point] the survival rate for these guys would be pretty poor without mom, so we're very, very hopeful that they manage to capture the second sibling
In the meantime, Wild North's newest guest has been named Hunter, after the Edmonton Oilers mascot. She was slightly underweight and dehydrated, Gienow said, but is overall in "reasonable health."
"It'll never hear its name, but that's what we're calling it," Gienow added. "It's really important for us to maintain a healthy relationship with wild animals and is to say that we don't want them to get accustomed to us or over-socialized.
Hunter the lynx plays in his enclosure at the Wild North (Supplied).
"It's especially important when you're dealing with large carnivores, like a lynx," he said. "We have to be very careful that the animal doesn't see us, it doesn't hear us. We do our best to stay so it can't smell us."
Hunter will stay with the wildlife organization until the spring when it will be released back in the Drayton Valley area.
In 33 years of operation, Wild North has not taken care of a lynx, Gienow said.
"These guys are very reclusive," he added. "We don't come across them very often and they're top of the food chain, so not a lot of them compared to prey species that we might get a lot of."
"To put this in perspective, how rare this is, we receive about 3,500 patients every year."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
NEW 'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Canadian couple among tourists on sinking sailing boat tour abroad
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their “extremely dangerous” experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
An Ontario senior called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Accused of burglary at stepmother's home, U.S. senator says she wanted her father's ashes: charges
A Minnesota state senator and former broadcast meteorologist told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to burglary charges filed Tuesday.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.