Conservation groups want lynx protected

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Conservation groups want federal wildlife officials to provide endangered species protections for the Canada lynx throughout its range in northern New Mexico.
The elusive, long-haired cats are federally threatened in several states in the West, but not in New Mexico.
They are even considered endangered by state officials in neighboring Colorado, where more than 200 lynx have been reintroduced since 1999.
Some of the cats have drifted south into New Mexico, and conservationists argue they should be protected here as well.
Today, the groups sent a petition seeking protections to the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A New Mexico attorney representing the groups, Matthew Bishop, says an invisible state border should not determine which lynx are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The Fish and Wildlife Service says it has not yet received the petition.