Seeking to measure their comeback in Rhode Island
By Anna Gray, College of the Environment and Life Sciences.
Once eradicated from the state, bobcats have returned over the past few decades and are now being spotted more frequently across Rhode Island.
The Rhode Island
Bobcat Project is led by researchers at the University of Rhode Island
in collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management,
the Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island, and local land trusts to support bobcat
conservation, promote public understanding of their important ecological role,
and provide critical data to inform wildlife management and biodiversity
conservation in Rhode Island.
Once eradicated from the state,
bobcats have returned over the past few decades and are now being spotted more
frequently across Rhode Island.
Bobcats are elusive and require extensive work to monitor;
thus, the research team has launched a three-pronged approach including camera
traps, collaring bobcats with GPS units, and citizen science data. For the
latter, Rhode
Island residents are encouraged to report sightings and submit
photographs to help researchers better understand the animals’ movement
patterns, habitat use, and population dynamics.
The effort was inspired by camera trap studies conducted
from 2018 to 2023 that found that species like fishers and foxes appear to be
in decline—raising concerns about environmental changes, diseases, and
rodenticide exposure. However, the same study indicated that bobcat populations
are stable or increasing.
Bobcats play a critical ecological role in an ecosystem
lacking apex predators like wolves and cougars—especially as other species like
fishers and foxes decline—because they offer services such as rodent control
and disease suppression. While bobcats tend to avoid human interaction, their
flexibility and generalist nature has likely allowed them to adapt better than
other carnivores to human-dominated landscapes. Understanding their resilience
is vital in a changing natural environment.
Camera trapping, the project’s first prong, is scheduled to wrap up this September. Laken Ganoe, who received her Ph.D. from URI and is now a principal biologist with the Rhode Island DEM, and Amy Mayer, a URI research associate, initially organized the camera trapping effort that began in 2018. Both are still involved, and Ganoe is collaborating with the URI research team in her new role at DEM.
Together, they placed 320 cameras at 160 locations
across the state to monitor mammal species, including bobcats. While that data
is important, community science participation allows for additional critical
insight to broaden understanding on private lands, especially since most of the
initial camera trapping surveys were conducted on public land. With community cooperation,
researchers will be setting traps to safely capture and collar bobcats.
The final component of the research project involves GPS tracking bobcats with radiocollars. GPS units allow for detailed monitoring, helping identify where bobcats rest, hunt, and travel and informing recommendations for land management practices that balance human use with wildlife conservation.
“Using the GPS data in conjunction with camera traps and
citizen science reports of sightings gives us multiple data sources to learn
about this species,” Hickling says. “Being able to gather as much information as
possible is extremely helpful.”
“We want people to be excited about seeing bobcats and to
understand their importance for biodiversity,” Carroll adds. “Tracking them
helps us identify broad implications for supporting bobcat populations.”
Members of the public who allow trapping on their property
will be invited to witness the animals being released post-collaring.
The uri.edu/bobcatsurvey reporting form will be open indefinitely, and Rhode Islanders are encouraged to submit information and photographs. For questions, or to receive a sticker with a QR code to the form, contact kathleen.carroll@uri.edu or chickling@uri.edu.
