After a Year of Rehabilitation, Orphaned Bobcat Siblings Have Been Released in the Wild

Two bobcats have been given a second chance at life in the wild this month, as two orphaned male and female siblings were released into Jacks Peak Park in Monterey, United States.

Discovery of the Two Bobcats

The brother and sister were discovered by the SPCA of Monterey County during the summertime in 2020, realizing they were too young to be without their mother, took the animals in and gave them treatment for parasites and dehydration.

As they were still very immature, the furry little cubs were moved to the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley (WCSV) for nurturing. The WCSV owns a California Department of Fish and Wildlife permit meaning they have the funds and experience required to rehabilitate, rescue, and release wild animals.

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Development of Their Survival Skills

The cubs have needs for a special enclosure to assist them establish the skills for survival they needed in the wild and to make sure that they aren't raised familiar with the sight of humans in seeing keepers every day as this could reduce their chances of survival in the wild.

They were put up in a naturalized enclosure (without humans) so they could develop their moves and feed in manners that would mimic the obstacles and opportunities they might encounter in the wild. Being given live rodents as food implies that they could develop skills for hunting that would have been shown to them by their mother normally.

The Manager of Operations for County Parks of Monterey in an email to IFLScience said: "The bobcats were trained in an enclosure made by man with structures that were supposed to intrigue and make the cats develop natural behaviors, the cats were given a natural diet of live carrion and rodents that they would come up against in nature."

Freedom of the Bobcats

For 8 months the cubs stayed in captivity at the WCSV as keepers observe their progress and readiness for eventual release. Once it was been decided that the siblings were prepared to survive alone, their freedom was arranged with County Parks of Monterey, who concluded that on March 24th the two would rejoin the wild.

They were freed at the same location they were found, with an audience of captivated humans celebrating the successful comeback of the bobcats to their home territory.

Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are species that are successful among wild cats discovered across North America, named for their lovable stubby "bob" tails.

It's the smallest among the Lynx genus, measuring about 18.7 to 49.2 inches (47.5 to 125 centimeters) in length. A pregnant female bobcat can give birth to up to six cubs at the same time, who she'll train on her own. They are gradually dispossessed of their mother's milk at five months and will head out on their own not too long before they turn one.

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