# Trail camera in Carson National Forest photographs Canada lynx, last recorded in New Mexico about 25 years ago

- Published: 2026-11-08 21:14 UTC
- Section: Planet › Ecology & recycling
- Tags: Canada lynx, New Mexico lynx record, trail camera survey, Carson National Forest, snowshoe hare habitat, threatened species, forest thinning and wildlife, Wildlands Network, San Juan Mountains
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-0241263f40c3e869fbfd1fa1_trail_camera_in/

**A motion-activated camera recorded a Canada lynx in northern New Mexico in June, about 25 years after the last record. The image is relevant for habitat and fire management.**

![Trail camera in Carson National Forest photographs Canada lynx, last recorded in New Mexico about 25 years ago](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/0da627396ef67862.jpg)
*USFWSAlaska, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain*

A motion-activated trail camera in northern New Mexico photographed a Canada lynx, a wild cat last documented in the state about 25 years earlier, according to knowridge.com. A graduate student found the image while sorting wildlife records from a study in Carson National Forest. The photograph confirms that at least one lynx used the forest in June [1].

William Grooms, a doctoral student at New Mexico State University, set out the cameras across the forest during his first field season. They photographed wildlife at 120 sites, recording animals that passed through when people were absent [1]. The images included squirrels, bears and foxes. Grooms shared one frame with specialists, who confirmed the animal was a Canada lynx.

## The lynx and its habitat

The species resembles a bobcat at a glance. Long legs and broad, fur-covered paws help it move through deep snow, where it hunts snowshoe hares. Lynx live across much of Canada and Alaska, often in northern or high mountain forests. In the contiguous United States they are far less common, are listed as threatened, and have been the subject of reintroduction efforts in the San Juan Mountains [1].

Snowshoe hares find shelter among dense plants and downed wood beneath spruce and fir trees. This helps explain why lynx are drawn to such places.

## Fire management and next steps

This creates a practical problem for forest managers. Some of the features that shelter hares can also add to the fuel available to a fire, so thinning or removing vegetation can affect both fire behavior and wildlife. The new record gives managers in the southern Rocky Mountains a recent data point as they decide how to protect habitat and reduce the danger of severe fires [1].

Grooms and colleagues at Wildlands Network are studying how ten wildlife species use forests with different arrangements of trees and plants. The camera survey is one part of that work, and the team plans another season of observations before drawing broader conclusions [1].

One photograph cannot show whether the lynx was passing through or spending much of its time in New Mexico. A second season could help establish which kinds of forest different animals use and whether patterns repeat across sites.

## Sources

1. [knowridge.com](https://knowridge.com/2026/11/trail-camera-spots-a-rare-lynx-in-new-mexico-after-decades)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-0241263f40c3e869fbfd1fa1_trail_camera_in/