Meet the Animal Park's Bobcats

NATIVE RANGE

Bobcats can be found anywhere on the North American continent, across the U.S., and into Canada and Mexico. They are exceptionally adaptable and can live in forests, mountains, and deserts.

DIET

They typically eat rabbits, birds, mice, squirrels, and other smaller game, but can take down prey (deer) up to eight times their size. Bobcats cache any extra food for later and can go days without eating if necessary.

BEHAVIOR

Bobcats are solitary, territorial, opportunistic hunters and are generally crepuscular but respond to the activity of their prey. They hunt by stealth with a leaping pounce that can cover 10 feet.

FASCINATING FACTS

• Bobcats are the smallest member of the lynx family. Scientists believe they evolved from the Eurasian lynx, which came to North America across the Bering Land Bridge during the Pleistocene epoch. The bobcat took on its current form around 20,000 years ago.
• Bobcats stand up to 24 inches at the shoulder and weigh up to 30 pounds, about twice the size of a domestic cat.
• Their coat color may shift with the season or reflect their environment, with lighter, tawny-colored coats in dryer or desert areas of the Southwest and darker, often grayish and vividly spotted coats in forested regions.