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Queens Zoo welcomes new-born lynx

By Roland Sackey

The Queens Zoo welcomed a new member to its family when a Canadian Lynx gave birth on May 1. Venus, named after tennis star Venus William, was born to mother, Marie, and father, Keith.

Venus, who is very shy, weighed under a pound at birth, but now weighs 3 1/2 half pounds.

Venus is the first Canadian Lynx born in captivity in North America in the past five years. Though they are still found in the northern United States and Canada, Canadian Lynx have not lived successfully in New York state in more than a century even after the help of reintroduction programs.

According to Scott Silver, curator of animals at the Queens Zoo, the reintroduction programs started as a way to introduce lynx to New York after their disappearance from the Adirondacks several decades ago.

    Lynx are cats that are found in the Northern Hemisphere, Canada, the Rockies, northern Europe and Russia. They are highly susceptible to human development and encroachment. They are very shy and avoid humans. Lynx have longer legs, bigger jaws and are much larger than the average cat.

The mother and father lynx arrived at the zoo last year from Canada and had never produced offspring before. Robin Dalton, director of the zoo, said, he is pleased to be able to have something unusual to share with the many visitors to the Zoo.

The lynx birth is just one of the many births the Queens Zoo is celebrating this year. The zoo has experienced a baby boom in 2001, with the recent arrival of two baby bison, a pack of prairie dog pups and three pygmy goat kids.

According to Silver, the lynx birth is an affirmation that the Queens Zoo is doing a good job.