Bobcat (Lynx rufus) | ESA status: none

What do bobcats eat?

Though they can take down prey many times their size, bobcats tend to eat smaller game, including rabbits, squirrels, mice, rats, and birds. A bobcat stalks its prey, ending its life with an explosive pounce.

Bobcat habitat

The bobcat’s range stretches from southern Canada to northern Mexico. The adaptable cat inhabits ecosystems including forests (deciduous, coniferous, or a mix of the two), swamps, and deserts.

What are the threats to the bobcat?

Thousands of bobcats are trapped and killed annually to supply fur for the international market. Guardians is working in New Mexico, where nearly 8,000 bobcats were killed between 2012 and 2016, to secure a statewide ban on trapping, while at the same time working on local and regional trapping bans elsewhere in the west. We are seeking public review of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s export program, which facilitates the international trade in bobcat pelts.

We are also fighting to end the federal government’s secretive wildlife killing program, Wildlife Services. The program kills carnivores like bobcats, along with millions of other native animals, in the name of agricultural and livestock interests.