Bobcat Carcasses Needed for West Virginia Research Project

By Vanessa Torres

West Virginia -(Ammoland.com)- The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) and West Virginia University (WVU) are asking trappers and hunters to donate bobcat carcasses to assist in collecting much-needed data on bobcat populations in the state.

The Bobcat Ecology Research Project is in its second and final year of data collection.

Carcasses provide reproductive and age information which will be used to model the state’s bobcat population, letting biologists know how the bobcat population is faring, as well as how it will respond to any changes in bag limits and season lengths.

In 2014, 297 bobcat carcasses were collected from trappers and hunters. So far, carcass examinations have indicated a fairly healthy population. Female reproductive tract, stomach content, disease, parasite and age structure analyses are still being conducted. Preliminary results should be available this winter and will be posted in the West Virginia Furbearer Management Newsletter on the DNR website at www.wvdnr.gov .

DNR and WVU personnel hope to collect 300 bobcat carcasses during the 2015-16 trapping and hunting seasons. A $20 gift card of the trapper’s or hunter’s choice is being offered …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand