Bobcat (Lynx rufus) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

Widespread in North America

• Southern Canada to southern Mexico (Kelly et al. 2016)
  • Occur in all contiguous United States, except Delaware (Kelly et al. 2016)
    • Have recolonized Midwest states previously eradicated from (Roberts and Crimmins 2010)
  • Found throughout Mexico
• Range expanding into northern Canada (Nowell and Jackson 1996; Kelly et al. 2016)

Elevation range

• 0 to 3,500 m (0 to 12,000 ft) (Hall 1981; Kelly et al. 2016)
  • In western U.S., favor low-to-moderate elevations

Wide variety of habitats

(Hall 1981)

• Forest (Rollings 1945; Nowell and Jackson 1996; Chamberlain et al. 2003; Abouelezz et al. 2018, and as noted)
  • Numerous types, including tropical forests in Florida (Sunquist and Sunquist 2009a)
  • Adapt to areas of cut forest, if cover and prey available (Hall 1981)
• Shrubland (Nowell and Jackson 1996; Kelly et al. 2016; Abouelezz et al. 2018)
• Grassland (Kelly et al. 2016)
  • Use areas with rocks, canyons, and waterways (Hall 1981)
• Desert and semi-desert (Hall 1981; Nowell and Jackson 1996; Sunquist and Sunquist 2009a; Kelly et al. 2016)
• Coastal marshes/swamps (Nowell and Jackson 1996; Thornton et al. 2004)
  • Southeastern U.S.
• Agricultural areas, where sufficient cover (Sunquist and Sunquist 2009a)

Habitat preferences

• Affinity for:
  • Forest edges (Reed et al. 2017)
  • Areas with dense vegetation, abundant prey, and den/shelter sites (Rollings 1945; Nowell and Jackson 1996)
    • Forests with undercover (Rollings 1945; Witczuk et al. 2015; Nielsen et al. 2018; Flores-Morales et al. 2019)
  • Creeks, streams, waterways, and wetlands (Lawhead 1984; Broman et al. 2014; Young, Golla, Draper, et al. 2019)
  • Steep topography (Broman et al. 2014; Kozakiewicz et al. 2019)
  • Areas with limited land development (Broman et al. 2014; Abouelezz et al. 2018)
    • Use vegetated or agricultural areas within larger urban areas (Young, Golla, Draper, et al. 2019)
• Tend to avoid:
  • Roads (Broman et al. 2014; Poessel et al. 2014; Young, Golla, Draper, et al. 2019)
  • Urban areas (e.g., Tracey et al. 2013)
  • Large areas cultivated for agriculture (Kelly et al. 2016; Flores-Morales et al. 2019), but see Young et al. (2019)

Bobcats are found from southern Canada to northern Mexico.

Adapted from www.d-maps.com according to IUCN fact sheet. Click here or on map for detailed distribution (IUCN).