Bobcat Rehab
Phoenix Bobcat as a rescued kitten as an adult; ready for release
Big Cat Rescue Rehabilitation of Bobcats for Release Back to the Wild
Wild bobcats came to Big Cat Rescue for two reasons.
Injuries such as having been hit by cars or disease, illness, birth defects.
Kittens that have been separated from their mothers or orphaned and are too young to survive in the wild.
Upon arrival, the cats would receive a full exam and be given whatever medical care is needed for their injuries or illness. Blood was drawn and tested for infectious diseases. They were vaccinated, dewormed, and flea treated.
Injured cats were given the time and supportive care they need to heal. They must prove they can hunt and survive before being released. Our six rehab pens were 230 feet long by 20 feet wide giving the cats 4600 square feet of natural space to learn their skills.
When possible kittens were given a domestic surrogate mother. When a surrogate is not available the kittens were bottle fed but weaned from the bottle as soon as possible. They were then raised with as little human contact as possible and given opportunities to learn to hunt.
Rehabbing and releasing bobcats is much more difficult than the rehabilitation of most wildlife. These magnificent little wildcats need every opportunity to fulfill their role in nature and Big Cat Rescue was there to give them that second chance.
10 Steps to Rehabbing a Wild Bobcat
This next video will give you a more in-depth overview look at our wild bobcat rehab and release program and procedures.
While we do bobcat rescue, rehab and release in Florida, we will not relocate bobcats as state law requires that they are released very near where they were captured. They must be released on at least 40 acres and we must get written permission from the owner/manager of the property.
Big Cat Rescue has decades of experience rehabbing and releasing bobcats back to the wild where they belong. We provide huge, naturalistic enclosures where these cats can learn or perfect their hunting skills before being released back to the wild. We have trained staff who are experts at capturing an injured bobcat or hand-rearing orphaned bobcats until a surrogate can be found.
We go to great lengths to keep these wild cats from imprinting on humans and monitor their care via surveillance cameras to make sure they are thriving. When they are healed, or old enough for release (about 18 months of age) we find the best habitat possible for sustaining them and set them free to live out the life that nature intended.
Big Cat Rescue Partners with the FWC for the First Time Ever!
Jamie talks about the collaring and tracking of Pia and Venkman
Pia and Venkman, two 6-month-old female bobcats, came to us in early May from another rehab facility that was in the process of moving and could not house the bobcats at the moment. The pair had been captured by animal control in an area of new development along the Myakka river and the Carlton Reserve. They were emaciated and covered in mange. Left untreated they would eventually succumb to infection brought on by this parasitic infestation.
Mange is a surface parasite and is treated with topical flea medication. After Pia and Venkman were treated they were housed under strict quarantine protocols in our Rehab Hospital. Keepers wore gowns and gloves when caring for them to protect themselves from the creepy crawly bugs and foot baths were utilized to clean their shoes upon exiting their hospital room to prevent the spread of the parasite to other areas of the building.
After four weeks of recovery the pair were ready to move to our outdoor rehab enclosures. During their time indoors they had put on weight with daily meals, but their muscle mass was depleted from lack of exercise. They would have much more room to roam in their 4,600 square foot habitat outside so they would be in tip top shape when their release day came.
Meanwhile BCR President and lead rehabber Jamie Veronica developed a relationship with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Panther Project Team and happily agreed to participate in a bobcat collaring initiative. The goal of the project would be to learn vital information regarding the natural behavior of our native bobcats specially breeding and kitten rearing.
Pia and Venkman were perfect candidates for this project. After decades of rehabilitating and releasing bobcats we would finally learn what happens next.
To date Big Cat Rescue's Bobcat Rehab Program has rescued 89 bobcats and has successfully released 43. (While the number of released bobcats may seem low at first glance, the number of rescued bobcats includes every call we have responded to which includes a lot of critically injured bobcats that do not survive transport or treatment following a car strike.)
Big Cat Rescue's vet team collaborated with FWC's panther team in a coordinated effort to sedate Pia and Venkman for pre-release veterinary exams so they could be fitted with their tracking collars. The collars work using both radio telemetry and GPS to track the movements of the cats. Data is collected by flying over the cat's territory using radio telemetry and manually entering the information into a mapping application as well as by uploaded GPS pinpoints transmitted from the collars. The collars are designed to have a generous fit to allow future growth of the cat. The collars feature a special band of leather that is weaker in structure, allowing for it to weather and break away after a given amount of time. In addition to the collars, both Pia and Venkman were photographed and given ear tags so they could be identified on trail cameras should the collars fail or break away too soon.
This is a very exciting new venture for our Bobcat Rehab Program. It is our hope to follow the movements of Pia and Venkman as they establish their own territories and throughout their first breeding and kitten rearing season.
November 17,2021 Update
Pia and Venkman were successfully released today on a 2,000+ acre site surrounded by tens of thousands of protected lands. Their release marks our 44th and 45th bobcat release. Pia and Venkman’s release was a historic one for BCR as they are our first collared bobcats. We are very excited to see their progress post release in this collaborative effort with FWC.
November 29, 2021 Update
Update from the field - Today I received these camera trap images of Venkman near her release site. She and Pia are off on their own, but are still in the same general area. It’s so good to see these cats thriving on their own.
Will YOU Help us Rehab & Release more wild bobcats?
This rehab and release program was made possible by donations from friends like you. Currently Big Cat Rescue does not have a full service rehab facility in Tampa, but we support rehabilitation centers around the world for wild cats rescue, rehab and release. Your donation is tax deductible.
"If you have a bobcat emergency outside of Florida. Things to consider when choosing a Bobcat Rehabber."
If you have a bobcat emergency in a state other than Florida, we can help you find a rehabber or will be a resource to wildlife rehabilitators who need help with bobcats, lynx or cougars. When you are searching for a bobcat rehabber ask the following questions:
1. Do they have experience with bobcats?
2. How big are their rehab enclosures? (Ours were 4,600 square feet per cat or litter)
3. Do they feed a live diet of prey to ensure that the cats will be able to hunt for themselves?
4. Do they keep people, including themselves to the extent possible, away from the bobcat so that they do not imprint on people and end up approaching humans after release?
5. Do they have a vet on staff or on call 24/7 for emergencies?
Rehabbing and releasing bobcats is much more difficult than the rehabilitation of most wildlife. These magnificent little wildcats need every opportunity to fulfill their role in nature and Big Cat Rescue is here to give them that second chance.
No one is allowed to trap and relocate bobcats so anyone who tells you that they will do that is probably trapping them to use as bait for training dogs.
Read more about why relocating wildcats doesn't work: https://bigcatrescue.org/relocating-bobcats-and-cougars/
Get the flier to share with your neighbors about Living With Bobcats
"Help Raise Awareness while helping us save more cats."
Jamie created a fun shirt that promotes our Bobcat Rehab and Release Program.
This funny shirt helps with some very serious work to protect our native bobcats, which in turn protects the entire ecosystem.
"How to Care for a Rehab Bobcat"
Cage rest sounds pretty peaceful for the cat, but it's a real challenge for the caregivers.
Find out more about some of our recent bobcat rescues, rehab and their release back into the wild.
When this page rebuild is completed below will be a list of previous bobcats that have come through Big Cat Rescue Wild Bobcat Rehab and Release Program and returned to the wild where they belong. Click on each cat's name to see photos, videos, information about that cat. Please bear with us while we rebuilding this section of the website to make it more readable from mobile devices. We will add more cats below as this work on this website section progresses.
2023 5 Bobcats
2022 5 Bobcats
2021 12 Bobcats
July 21 ,2021 Summer Bobcat is a 2.5 week old bobcat came to us very sick, weak, and immobile on the front limbs. She was found at a demolition site.
July 1, 2021 Nakoa Bobcat. See his page and webcam at his link. Found with a cut to the bone on his paw.
June 21, 2021 Byrdie Bobcat. Found starving to death.
In May 2021, it started raining baby bobcats with six, yes SIX, bobcat kittens arriving within 48 hours of each other! On May 4th we answered a call about a bobcat who had been hit by a car and died while the caller was still on the phone with us. She was 3 hours away, so we alerted the Florida Wildlife Commission about the bobcat so they could test her for FLM (a disease that is wiping out the fragile Florida Panther population and bobcats all over the state). During the necropsy they discovered she had been nursing kittens and the search was on!
Thirteen days later, Wild Florida Rescue got a tip and found Lily, Denali & Ambrose. How the kittens survived thirteen days without their mother is a mystery. Wild Florida Rescue rushed the starving, dehydrated babies to their vet for emergency overnight care. They then called Big Cat Rescue asking if we would continue their intensive care and, if they survived, their rehab for release back to the wild.
But it did not stop there! Baby bobcat Cahira had been orphaned in another unrelated situation and is a little older than Lily, Denali & Ambrose. Heather, Chystene, and Zeus, of Wild Florida Rescue learned of this lone bobcat kitten and everyone agreed it would be best if she could be raised with or near the other three. They drove across the state to deliver all four to our onsite Bobcat Rehab Hospital where they were checked by the vet and started the long road to recovery. And then, within 48 hours, we received yet another bobcat call about two six-month old mange covered siblings, Pia & Venkman. Ewww! If you've NEVER experienced scabies, count yourself lucky. Just the sight of it and we all start scratching! When your pet contracts mange, you can wash them and treat them internally. But bobcats in the bath? No way! It will take a little longer and we will have to monitor their recovery to be sure there is no relapse. But they have an excellent shot at going free one day soon. Your generous donations continue to fund our important rescue and rehab program for Florida native wild bobcats, so thank you!
2020 3 Bobcats
2019 11 Bobcats
Flint - Unfortunately, due to all of Flint's injuries and medical issues he is not a candidate for release and is a permanent resident at Big Cat Rescue.
Pebble
Sky (Azul, Indigo, Cobalt)
2018 9 Bobcats
Aphrodite - On Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2018 Carole got a call from a rehabber that does not rehab Florida Bobcats. Someone had dropped a Florida Bobcat off at their gate. - Released 2018
Clover and Lucky - Carole got a call from the new management of the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter asking if we could take in 2 orphaned bobcat kittens to finish their rehab for release back to the wild. - Released 2018
Shamrock - Shamrock is a native Florida bobcat kitten who appears to have been born around 1/15/18. She was found, separated from her mom on Feb. 2, 2018 by a group of people who called Wildlife Inc., on Anna Maria Island, to come rescue her. Damen Hurd, of Wildlife Inc., said they searched for the mother and could not reunite them, so the kitten was nursed to health while they looked for a facility that could offer her the next stage of rehab.- Released 2018
Bravo and Tango - We were right in the middle of doing an evening Facebook LIVE video when a call came in from Chris Scott of Raccoon Rescue in Milton (near Pensacola) Florida. A 100 acre burn had separated a mother bobcat from two of her kittens. We can’t know for sure, but really hope she was able to safely move the rest of her litter before conditions deteriorated to the point of having to abandon all hope for the last two boys. They were turned into the local rehabber, but she wasn’t familiar with hand rearing bobcats, so she went to the Internet to find out what she needed to do next.
Echo - Echo was found by firefighters, wet and shivering, and all alone, after a prescribed burn in S. Florida on June 10, 2018, and taken to the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, FL. Three days later Big Cat Rescue was contacted by BWS asking if we’d be willing to rehab the orphaned kitten for release back to the wild.- Released 2018
Foxtrot - The morning of June 23, 2018, Carole and Kathryn picked up a bobcat kitten from a rehabber. She had been found 48 hours earlier.- Released 2018
Alpha Rescued – August 28, 2018 at approximately 7-8 weeks old. This kitten was found all alone by a man right before a huge storm with no mother or siblings in sight. She will be release in early 2019.
2017 5 Bobcats
Noel- Hit by a car on Christmas Day 2017. She sustained two broken legs, three broken bones. Her release date is coming up soon.
2016 5 Bobcats
Thor - Broken jaw, eye socket, and shoulder blade, jaw surgery at Humane Society, rehabbed released - Released 2016
Chief Spotted Eye 2016 Crossed the Rainbow Bridge
Poseidon – Severe parasite and mange infestation, died as a result
George
2015 7 Bobcats
Journey – Orphaned kitten, died of feline distemper
Phoenix – Orphaned kitten, burned in a brush fire, rehabbed, released
Captiva – Orphaned kitten, rehabbed, released
Rain – Orphaned kitten, rehabbed, released
Dancer – Orphaned kitten, rehabbed, released
Mr. Claws – Orphaned juvenile, broken leg, plate surgery at Humane Society, rehabbed, released
Mrs. Claws – Orphaned kitten, injury to the head, stunted growth, Became a permanent resident
2014 3 Bobcats
Cypress – Broken pelvis, FHO surgery at Blue Pearl, pelvis did not heal, euthanized
Ivan – Both front legs amputated, suspected trap, euthanized
2013 2 Bobcats
Khaleesi – Orphaned juvenile, rehabbed til grown and released
Fencer – Caught in fence, broken toe, rehabbed, released
2012 5 Bobcats
Gator – Orphaned juvenile, rehabbed til grown and released
Copter – Orphaned juvenile, rehabbed til grown and released
Sally Ride
2010 4 Bobcats
Skip – Hit by car, broken pelvis, surgery w/ Dr. Hay, rehabbed, pelvis healed too narrow, permanent resident, died from a seizure
Midnight – Orphaned kitten, died of feline distemper
Rain – Orphaned kitten, died of feline distemper
Storm – Orphaned kitten, died of feline distemper and congenital heart disease
2009 4 Bobcats
Dante – Hit by car, broken jaw, rehabbed, released
Bellona – Hit by car, broken leg & tail, plate surgery at Blue Pearl, follow up knee surgery at Blue Pearl, rehabbed released
Flash – Injured, no vet care needed, rehabbed, released
Christmas – Hit by a car, injuries too severe, euthanized
2008 1 Bobcat
Hope – Orphaned nursing kitten, utilized foster domestic mom and kittens, rehabbed til grown and released (1st attempt at rehabbing and releasing a nursing kitten)
2007 4 Bobcats
Chance – Injured & birth defects, surgery to repair a hernia, rehabbed, released
Will – Brain damaged juvenile, not releasable, permanent resident
Kennedy – Brain damaged juvenile, not releasable, permanent resident, died from a seizure
Ace – Emaciated adult, FIV positive, not permitted to release, permanent resident, died from FIV
Faith – Orphaned juvenile, rehabbed til grown and released (1st attempt at rehabbing and releasing a weaning kitten)
Attempted Bobcat Rescues
On July 18, 2017, a mother bobcat was struck and killed in the 33803 zip code area of Lakeland, FL. People who work in this area, sent photos of the 2 pound, orphaned baby on July 21 to us and we have searched the area and set up humane traps to try and capture the kitten.
Bobcat Rehab Gear
You can find shirts, tote bags, mugs, necklaces, mousepads and so many more fun items featuring Rehab Bobcats in our online gift shops. Go to reach gift shop linked below and search "Rehab bobcat." Your PURRchases of Rehab bobcat Gear helps us provide for all the cats at Big Cat Rescue and work toward ending the abuse and exploitation of big cats. BigCatRescue.biz
