Ohio’s Verified Bobcat Sightings Increase to 200

ODNR Division of Wildlife biologists verified 200 bobcat sightings in Ohio in 2013. This is the fourth consecutive year more than 100 verified sightings were recognized in Ohio, and the first time sightings increased to 200.

• Of the 200 verified sightings, 113 were recognized from photographs or videos. Additional sightings were verified through road kills, incidentally trapped animals (then released) and sightings by qualified personnel.

• Noble County continues to have the most verified sightings, with 32. An additional 106 sightings were confirmed in the counties immediately surrounding Noble (Guernsey, Belmont, Monroe, Washington, Morgan, and Muskingum).

• Bobcats were confirmed in 36 counties during 2013, and have been verified in 49 counties since 1970.

• The division collected an additional 226 unverified bobcat sightings in 2013. Most unverified sightings were reported through species observation cards. Unverified sightings have occurred in 86 of Ohio’s 88 counties since 1970.

• Bobcats once roamed across Ohio, but they were extirpated around 1850 as more people settled within the state. A handful of unverified bobcat sightings in the 1960s announced the return of the species.

• The bobcat was recently removed from the Ohio Endangered and Threatened Species List, but it remains protected in the state.