Biologists with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department say they have confirmed more than a dozen reported sightings of the same rare Canada lynx seen in Rutland County in August.

Since then, the department has been able to confirm photos and video of at 15 sightings of a juvenile male lynx looking to expand its habitat, a behavior called “dispersal,” says Brehan Furfey, furbearer biologist with the department.

Furfey says the recent sightings show the cat has moved about 60 miles north into Addison County.

“Vermont’s network of protected lands is what makes this journey possible,” Furfey said. “We’re rooting for this lynx to keep heading north where it will find more young forest habitat and plenty of snowshoe hares to eat.”

Vermont is on the southernmost edge of the Canada lynx’s range. The August 17 sighting was the first confirmed in Vermont since 2018 in Jericho.

Furfey’s department says biologists have received over 160 reports of lynx since 2016. Only seven were confirmed, mostly in the Northeast Kingdom, which supports the best climate, habitat and food sources for lynx in the state.

Furfey said the lynx seen by Vermonters “appears skinny but healthy” and is not a threat. However, he added, “it is probably stressed by being in unfamiliar habitat and needs to be allowed to continue its dispersal without disturbance.”

Canada lynx are a federally threatened species, so it’s important for anyone who sees a lynx to give it a wide berth. “If they are changing their behavior in response to you, then you’re too close,” Furfey said. 

But Furfey encourages anyone who encounters the rare cat to take a photo or video and send it to the department to help state biologists track and protect it.

First, however, learn how to tell Canada lynx from the closely related bobcat, which is much more common in Vermont. 

“The chance to use citizen science observations to follow this juvenile lynx on its search for new territory is really unusual and really exciting,” said Furfey.  “Vermonters can be proud that decades of land protection and management for connected habitats have allowed this rare wild cat to make its way through our state.  It’s a sign that conservation is working.”