The group says state and federal agencies have documented captures of 16 lynx over the past decade in traps that were set for other species in Minnesota, including six that resulted in deaths of the rare cats.

“It’s outrageous that Minnesota’s lynx keep needlessly suffering and dying in indiscriminate traps,” Collette Adkins, the center’s carnivore conservation director, said in a statement. “The state needs to step up and implement sensible changes to prevent the tragic deaths of these highly imperiled cats. Minnesota’s rare animals shouldn’t be strangled in neck snares.”

Canada lynx are listed as threatened and are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is estimated that as few as 50 of the cats remain in Minnesota.

The Center for Biological Diversity said it would seek more measures to protect Canada lynx, such as making it mandatory to place traps within "lynx exclusion devices" that prevent trapping deaths.