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Indiana DNR wants to raise the annual bobcat kill quota from 250 to 400 – a 60 percent jump – and they’re doing it without any real data on how last year’s first-ever trapping season actually affected the population. Trappers already killed 253 bobcats last season, blowing past the original 250 cap. If the quota goes to 400, there’s no telling how many will actually be taken.
There’s no science backing a jump this big. In fact, DNR’s own population model shows that killing 400 bobcats a year could push the species toward local extinction in Indiana within a decade. That’s not wildlife management – that’s a gamble with a species we only recently got back. Bobcats are the only native wildcat Indiana has left. They do real work keeping rodent and rabbit populations in check, which benefits farmers and ecosystems across the state. A species that was nearly wiped out in the mid-1900s deserves better than a quota decision made without solid data behind it…