Bobcat GPS Research Study
2013 marked the seventh straight year we have
fitted bobcats with GPS collars on Kiawah Island. We had a
successful trapping season and were able to catch 11 different
bobcats in 12 days of trapping. Six of these bobcats received
GPS collars (four females and two males). All six of these
bobcats had been captured in prior years and five of them had
been fitted with GPS collars previously. Tracking the same
bobcats during multiple years allows us to see changes in home
range size and response to changing habitat conditions on the
Island.
This year brought yet another film crew to the Island to
film our bobcats. Staff from National Geographic spent several
weeks during the spring and summer tracking and filming
bobcats. They were able to get good footage of several bobcats,
including an adult female and her kitten. The show will focus on
how animals adapt to suburban and urban landscapes and will
air in 2014.
Three of our female bobcats gave birth to kittens this
year. Bobcat 450 had one male kitten on Captain Sam’s Spit,
Bobcat 700 had one female kitten in the dunes near Windswept
What are we learning?
• Bobcats play a vital role in maintaining the healthy balance of
wildlife on Kiawah Island.
• Normally secretive and shy, bobcats have adapted to sharing the
Island with humans.
• Kiawah’s bobcat population is stable and healthy.
• Bobcats make extensive use of scrub-shrub, forest, and developed
areas for nighttime hunting forays .
• Bobcats prefer scrub-shrub habitat along marsh edges and
secondary dunes for daytime resting cover.
Location data from the bobcat GPS collars is closely analyzed to look
for patterns in habitat use during day and night-time hours, denning
sites, travel corridors and more. This information is used to pinpoint
specific areas or habitat types on the Island that are of vital importance
to bobcats. As a result of this reaserch we now have Bobcat
Management Guidelines for the Island. These guidelines provide
suggestions and recommendations to all Island entities regarding
creation, preservation and improvement of habitat to benefit bobcats.
How can you help?
• Promote and encourage native vegetation, focusing on creating
dense understory.
Villas, and Bobcat 900 (“Kire”) had one female kitten on Cougar
• Discourage and eliminate exotic and invasive plant species.
Island.
• Contact the Kiawah Conservancy for an assessment of your yard’s
habitat and recommendations for improvement.
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