Few places in North America have advocated for its bobcat population as intensively as Kiawah Island. The barrier island has always been defined by the quiet presence of this charismatic predator. They slip through thickets at dawn, cross sandy paths without sound, and thread their way through a landscape more developed than most predators would ever tolerate. Since the late 1990s, biologists have monitored the island’ s bobcat population through camera surveys. Beginning in 2007, GPS collars more closely monitored animal movements.
That this species continues to thrive here is remarkable on its own. But what makes the Kiawah story even more extraordinary, is that the island nearly lost its bobcats, before bringing them back through concerted community effort.