Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are one of America’s two species of lynx. They are found all over the United States except for Alaska, Delaware and Hawaii. They are of least concern for extinction. Some live in Southern Canada and there is a population in Mexico. Now, Indiana bobcats are expected to be the subject of proposed hunting and trapping quotas, according to media reports.
According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR):
“Bobcats have been reported from almost every Indiana county but are most common in southern and west-central Indiana. A study conducted by the DNR in south-central Indiana revealed that bobcats are capable of dispersing up to 100 miles from where they were born.
The DNR collects reports of bobcat sightings, trail-camera photos, and mortalities. Bobcat reports are also collected through the annual Archer’s Index, in which volunteer deer bow hunters report the number of hours they hunted and the species they saw while hunting.
Bobcats prefer forested areas that have brushy areas, fields, or clear cuts that are beginning to regrow mixed in. Female bobcat home ranges may vary from 6–12 square miles, and male bobcat home ranges may vary from 30–75 square miles. Bobcats are primarily nocturnal.”
The plan has not been formalized or approved and there is some opposition.
According to the Humane Society of the United States:
” a small but powerful group of recreational fur trappers helped push a bill through the state legislature that forces the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to establish a bobcat-trapping season by July 2025. And last week, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources proposed that trappers be allowed to kill 250 of them using horrific methods including strangling neck snares and steel-jawed leghold traps, even though these small wildcats are only starting to return to their native habitats in Indiana’s woods. But there is hope: concerned residents of the state still have time to prevent even one bobcat from being killed.
The new law mandating a bobcat season allows the Department of Natural Resources flexibility in setting the quota of bobcats that can be legally killed—the agency can even set this number as low as zero.
The Natural Resources Commission will take public comments into account before making its final decision, and they can still decide to set the quota to zero. For that to happen, though, the Commission needs to hear from Indiana residents now. The public comment period for Indiana residents is open and can be accessed by clicking “Submit Comment Here” under Bobcat Amendments at NRC: Rulemaking Docket.“
Estimates of Indiana bobcats numbers vary. The cats have been seen in nearly every county in the state and the number of Indiana bobcats may be over 1,000. That number appears to be increasing.
The number of bobcats nationwide appears to be increasing and the number may be over 3 million. They are small enough to feed on insects and big enough to tackle young (and rarely adult) deer. They face challenges in some areas. Pythons in Florida have eliminated up to 90 percent of small to midsize mammals in some areas. California has perhaps 100,000 of the cats. In the Santa Monica Mountains they face threats from traffic and poisons working up the food chain. California has recently opted to start a conservation study of the status of the cats in the Golden State.