Minnesota will restrict strangulation snares and other traps in the northeastern part of the state to settle a federal lawsuit over Canada lynx dying in traps set for other animals.
The changes are the core of a settlement between the Center for Biological Diversity and the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that was finalized Tuesday in an order from U.S. District Court Judge Eric C. Tostrud. The two sides reached the compromise last year, but it was delayed when trapping groups intervened to contest it.
Canada lynx are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and the Center for Biological Diversity sued the DNR in 2020, alleging it was violating the act by authorizing trapping practices that endanger lynx. Even the accidental deaths are an illegal take under the act, the group argued.
The state has banned hunting or trapping lynx since 1984, but at least nine are known to have been caught in traps since 2008.
