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A rescued lynx who was found orphaned and injured in western Manitoba last summer is settling into her new home at Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo.
Lumi the lynx was released into a new enclosure Wednesday morning.
Lumi was found surrounded by dogs near Swan River, about 380 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, in August.
Her eye was permanently damaged — which means she can’t be released back into the wild — and testing earlier this year found she likely suffered a brain injury that causes seizures.
After months of medical care at Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre and the Assiniboine Park Zoo’s health centre, she was released into a habitat enclosure at the zoo on Wednesday morning.
Premier Wab Kinew, who was at the zoo on Wednesday to help welcome Lumi to her new home, said the milestone shows how Manitobans “love to help our animal friends.”
“In this case, it hits home because my clan is the lynx, so that’s my traditional family,” said Kinew, as Lumi explored her new enclosure.
Lumi was found with a permanently damaged eye near Swan River, Man., last August. (Submitted by Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre)
The province will give a $650,000 grant to Wildlife Haven, where Lumi received rehabilitation care before being transferred to the zoo earlier this year.
The funding will be used to build two new enclosures for aquatic animals and waterfowl, repair the main building and raptor enclosures, make safety upgrades and modernize the contact centre, the province said in a news release.
The zoo’s animal hospital is also getting $5 million in provincial funding. That money was initially promised to the City of Winnipeg for road safety projects and splash pad improvements, but the province reallocated the funds late last year.
The public can visit Lumi in the grasslands and boreal forest area of the zoo.