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3 March 2025
The Bobcats in Tucson Project (BIT), was launched by a group of Arizona Game and Fish retirees. They have provided insights into the lives of bobcats as they thrive in Tucson’s urban environments. The study, which ran from 2019 to 2024, highlighted the challenges and successes of bobcats coexisting with the human population in a sprawling city.
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The BIT was driven by a team of wildlife experts, including Cheryl Mollohan, Kerry Baldwin, Al LeCount, Ron Day, and Dave Brown. They brought over 150 years of combined experience in wildlife research, management, and education. Their efforts were supported by organizations such as the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center and the Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital. They received a $34,000 grant from the Arizona Game and Fish Heritage Urban Wildlife Grant Program. Using this the team captured and radio-collared 56 bobcats, providing critical data on their movements and behavior.
Over four years, the team tracked these bobcats using advanced satellite collars. These collars generated over 50,000 GPS points enabling them to study the urban bobcat population in precise detail.
Tucson, Arizona, a city of nearly 900,000 residents, sits in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. Tucson is surrounded by five mountain ranges and dotted with washes that flow into the Santa Cruz River. The city’s mix of urban areas, suburban neighborhoods, and desert wilderness creates a unique bobcat habitat. While bobcats are typically associated with remote wilderness areas. However, the urban environment of Tucson has proven to be an ideal setting for these wild predators.
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Using custom traps and satellite tracking collars, the BIT team captured and studied bobcats in various environments, from the city’s edges to more densely populated neighborhoods. The data revealed some surprising findings. Bobcats, known for their stealth and solitary nature, have adapted remarkably well to urban life. They frequently share their home ranges with other bobcats, including adult daughters and even entire families. This type of social behavior is unusual for bobcats, who are typically solitary animals.
Home ranges for female bobcats in Tucson varied from 1.35 to 8.2 square miles. However, males had even more extensive ranges, averaging 7.57 square miles. Surprisingly, the home ranges of females were found to overlap minimally. This formed a tightly knit urban network of bobcats in the city. These home ranges were often interspersed with natural desert vegetation, native washes, and even residential backyards, creating corridors for the bobcats to navigate.
The study also noted how Tucson’s urban areas provide ample food sources for bobcats, with many residents attracting prey like doves, rabbits, and even cats through backyard water and bird feeders. Many residents have even seen bobcats hunting in their gardens or under bird feeders.
While the bobcat population in Tucson is thriving overall, the study uncovered some concerning patterns. The first-year survival rate for bobcats was low at just 36%, with vehicle strikes and human-caused mortality being significant factors. However, as the study progressed, mortality rates declined, and the bobcat population appeared more stable, with an 84% annual survival rate in the latter years of the study.
Interestingly, the study revealed that these urban bobcats’ primary cause of death wasn’t just vehicle strikes but also human interference. Bobcats are sometimes seen as a nuisance, especially when they hunt domestic animals like chickens. One such case involved a bobcat being shot by a homeowner for stalking free-range chickens. The BIT team advocates for a more compassionate approach, suggesting that proper containment of livestock and using wildlife-friendly landscaping could help reduce these conflicts.
As awareness of the urban bobcat population grew, many Tucson residents became more mindful of their interactions with these animals. An overwhelming majority of residents surveyed—nearly 90%—viewed the presence of bobcats in their neighborhoods positively, appreciating the rare opportunity to witness these beautiful creatures up close.
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The BIT study emphasizes that Tucson’s relatively peaceful coexistence with bobcats is a unique success story. The study highlighted how thoughtful urban planning, such as wildlife corridors and sustainable landscaping practices, can foster harmony between humans and wildlife.
The results of the Bobcats in Tucson Project provide critical insights into how urban areas can support wildlife populations and coexist with them sustainably. However, there’s still much to learn about the behaviors of urban bobcats, particularly as more areas become developed and human-wildlife interactions increase. The future of Tucson’s bobcats will depend on ongoing research, community engagement, and further conservation efforts.
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