Kekoa bobcat
Kekoa (pronounced Keh-Ko-a),
Hawaiian for "the warrior"
Male
Date of birth: May 24, 2022
Date of arrival: July 23, 2022
Date of release back to the wild: December 8, 2022
INCOMING REHAB BOBCAT ALERT!
Meet our newest rehab bobcat Kekoa (pronounced Keh-Ko-a Hawaiian for “the warrior”). Kekoa was found under a car in a parking garage in the Sarasota area. He had been abandoned by his mother and was too young to survive on his own in the wild.Thankfully he was rescued and until now was cared for by the wonderful people at Wildlife Inc, a wildlife rehab facility on Anna Maria Island. Big Cat Rescue and Wildlife Inc teamed up to give this little one a best friend to grow up with, Makani!
Kekoa is 10-12 weeks old and weighs 6.8 pounds. He will quarantine for about a week in the kitten room of our Rehab Hospital. Then he will move outdoors and be introduced to Makani.Being able to raise orphaned kittens in pairs or groups is a top priority so we are very grateful to Wildlife Inc for making this a possibility. We would also like to thank the wonderful ladies who drove Kekoa to his new home here at Big Cat Rescue today.
For more information on the rehab center Kekoa came from check out their website at wildlifeinc.org or at facebook.com/wildlifeinc
You can learn more about the rehab program at Big Cat Rescue at BigCatRescue.org/bobcat-rehab.
July 28, 2022
Makani says toys are down here. Silly Kekoa. These two bobcat boys were introduced today. So far everything is going very well. They will be raised and released together.
Follow Makani's rehab story
Kekoa Bobcat Bird Hunting
September 4, 2022
Kekoa and Makani rehab bobcats, snuggle buddies in a bobcat cuddle puddle!
December 8, 2022
Makani and Kekoa bobcats day of freedom!
Wild bobcats come 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 receive a full exam and given whatever medical care is needed for their injuries or illness. Blood is drawn and tested for infectious diseases. They are vaccinated, dewormed, and flea treated.
Injured cats are 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 are 230 feet long by 20 feet wide giving the cats 4600 square feet of natural space to learn their skills.
When possible kittens are given a domestic surrogate mother. When a surrogate is not available the kittens are bottle fed but weaned from the bottle as soon as possible. They are 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 is here to give them that second chance.
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.
