A short-tailed wild cat of North America, with dark spots and stripes on a brownish coat.
Short tufts top the ears, and cheek fur forms sideburn-like ruffs. The ear backs and tail tip are black.
Do bobcats and Canada lynx choose the same places? On the north shore of Lake Huron in Ontario, researchers followed tracks in the snow during the winters of 2017 and 2018. For each species, they compared 30 used paths with unused paths set 100 metres to the side. Across the broader area, bobcat tracks were found closer to the lakeshore, while lynx were farther north; lynx areas had deeper snow, more snowshoe hare tracks and more coniferous forest.
At the finer scale along the paths, however, both species selected shallower snow, more hare tracks and more coniferous forest. Their broader distributions differed, yet they shared some features in the places used at a finer scale.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global
The IUCN Red List assesses the bobcat (Lynx rufus) as Least Concern (LC) globally. It was assessed on 11 February 2016 and published in 2016; its population trend is listed as stable.
In San Diego County, southern California, a study using cameras and GPS collars found that individual bobcats selected against developed areas, while densities tended to be higher in natural habitat patches surrounded by development. This finding is specific to a developed region.