Two of Ohio’s feline predators recently returned to the wild following their rehabilitation at the Lake Metroparks Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center.
The bobcats’ stay at the Kirtland center started in July and ended with their May 23 release in southern Ohio, explained center Wildlife Care Manager Tammy O’Neil. The cats will now seek out territory and produce litters, contributing to what she called the state’s “ever-growing bobcat population.”
“The release of bobcats never gets old,” she said. “Getting the opportunity to raise and care for such beautiful, fierce apex predators is a rewarding experience each time.”
O’Neil noted that their new home is a wildlife area in Jackson County with “rolling dense forests, thickets, swamp area and several small lakes teeming with wildlife.”
The orphaned bobcats were thin and dehydrated when they arrived from a rehabilitation facility in southern Ohio, center Wildlife Care Assistant Manager Traci Keller explained in August. The female, from Jackson County, was smaller and had an estimated birth date of June. The male, from nearby Scioto County, was larger and “likely born in early spring” 2022.
They were moved to a rehabilitation enclosure in September. According to Dan Burnett, the park district’s chief of interpretive services, the enclosure was designed so that the bobcats could test their agility, hear the sounds of the natural world and catch small creatures that squeezed through the barrier.
A webcam feed allowed the public to virtually observe the rehabilitating animals.
Staff limited human interaction to prepare the bobcats for life in the wild. Their goal was to prevent the cats from growing dependent upon people or comfortable with them.
The park district did not encounter any unusual or unforeseen challenges while caring for the cats, O’Neil added.
She noted that community members contributed to the cats’ diet.
“Raising the bobcats is a lot of work and a group effort,” she said. “The wildlife center staff is extremely appreciative to the several park staff and the public for almost 250 pounds of donated meat to feed the bobcats, saving us several hundred dollars.”
O’Neil noted that bobcats are typically released in their home counties since they are a rabies vector species. Because the center had already cared for them for more than a year and vaccinated them, staff were comfortable releasing both in Jackson County.
“Raising the bobcats is a lot of work and a group effort. The wildlife center staff is extremely appreciative to the several park staff and the public for almost 250 pounds of donated meat to feed the bobcats, saving us several hundred dollars.”
— Wildlife Care Manager Tammy O’Neil
Lake Metroparks Executive Director Paul Palagyi previously noted that bobcats are often released in the spring since their food is most abundant and they have the most time to prepare for winter.
The center has rehabilitated 12 bobcats since the first two arrived in 2013, said Burnett and Keller. At that time, bobcats were considered a threatened species.
The state’s bobcat population has grown in recent years, O’Neil explained, adding that vehicle collisions are their biggest threat. As a top predator, she said that the felines are an important part of balancing the food chain.
Ohio’s bobcat population is primarily concentrated in its southeastern counties, as noted in a 2021 Division of Wildlife report, though less frequent sightings have been reported in other portions of the state. Noble County has had the most confirmed sightings in recent decades, with a total of 340 from 1970 to 2020.
The report stated that Lake County had one confirmed bobcat sighting in that same time period, which was reported in 2004. Cuyahoga County had none, while Geauga County had two reported sightings in 2018 and a third in 2020.
