BANGOR (AP) – Two organizations are suing to force Maine officials to take additional steps to prevent trappers from capturing Canada lynx.

Last year, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife settled a federal lawsuit by agreeing to ban larger foothold traps throughout northern Maine, but the number of Canada lynx caught inadvertently by trappers increased despite the new regulations.

On Monday, representatives of the Wildlife Alliance of Maine and the Animal Welfare Institute said they had no choice but to file another lawsuit.

Daryl DeJoy, executive director of the Wildlife Alliance of Maine, said the state is in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

“They continue to allow the incidental take of Canada lynx by state-sanctioned trappers and will not do what the federal government has asked and requires of them, and what the citizens of Maine want from them,” DeJoy said.

Maine is home to the only self-sustaining population of Canada lynx in the eastern United States.

Medium-sized cats, lynx are similar to bobcats but with longer legs and large, fur-covered feet that allow them to pursue prey in deep snow.

Figures from last year’s trapping season indicate eight lynx were captured. All eight were released back into the wild.

Walter Jakubas, who heads the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s mammal group, declined to comment on the lawsuit. But he said Monday that DIF&W staff carefully check trapped lynx for injuries. Most suffer only scrapes or minor swelling, he said.

A spokesman for the Maine Trappers Association said he believes the groups are using the lynx to attempt to ban all trapping in Maine.

“There’s no question that’s what this is about,” said Skip Trask. “I’m just a little surprised that the same people who were involved in the last lawsuit are back.”