Young reach independence in autumn or early winter; separate from mother (Jackson 1961; Crowe 1975a; Bailey 1979; Winegarner and Winegarner 1982; Nowell and Jackson 1996)
12 to 18 months
Disperse (particularly males) to occupy new home range (Johnson et al. 2010; Hughes et al. 2019)
Typical Life Expectancy
Wild populations
Northeastern USA
Live 3 years, on average, where hunting or collisions with motor vehicles are common (Rory Carroll, New Hampshire and Vermont furbearer harvest data, 2012–2017)
Typically 6 to 7 years in non-harvested populations (Rory Carroll, personal communication, 2020)
See Jackson (1961), Knick et al. (1985), and Hansen (2007) for maximum longevity records
Managed care
Median life expectancy
18.3 years (AZA 2023)
Mortality and Health
Survival rates
Survival highly variable (e.g., Crowe 1975b; Fuller et al. 1985; Rolley 1985; Anderson 1987; Fuller et al. 1995; Nielsen and Woolf 2002)
Strongly influenced by hunting pressure (Fuller et al. 1985; Litvaitis et al. 1987) and prey availability (Bailey 1974)
Where harvested, higher mortality among males (e.g., Fritts and Sealander 1978; Parker and Smith 1983)
Likely due to larger home range size and more extensive daily movements of males
Very high survival (> 85%) where receive harvest protection and sufficient habitat/prey available (Nielsen and Woolf 2002; Blankenship et al. 2006)
Populations also influenced by survival rates of kittens (Bailey 1974) and non-resident bobcats (Blankenship et al. 2006)
Predators
Few non-human predators (Jackson 1961; Hall 1981)
Coyote (Young 1958; Moriarty 2007)
Mountain lion (puma) (Young 1958)
Wolves (Banfield 1974)
Burmese python (Everglades, Florida) (Dorcas et al. 2012)
Domestic dogs (Jennings 2017)
Bobcat young preyed on by Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), foxes, and male bobcat (Young 1958; Jackson 1961; Crowe 1975b)
Pollution
Metal (e.g., mercury, copper, silver) and chemical (e.g., from flame retardants) contaminants shown to bioaccumulate in bobcat tissues (e.g., liver) (Cumbie 1975; Boyles et al. 2017)
Potential for indirect negative health effects (Thomason et al. 2016)
Contaminants can become toxic above a certain threshold level or increase susceptibility to infectious diseases (e.g., Riley et al. 2003; Nriagu and Skaar 2015)
Accidental death
Killed by motor vehicles and trains (Nielsen and Woolf 2002; Blankenship et al. 2006; Riley et al. 2006; Young, Golla, Broman, et al. 2019)
Vehicle collisions are a significant cause of death in some locations (Blankenship et al. 2006; Bencin et al. 2019)
Electrocution
Bailey (1974) reports deaths of young bobcats from climbing powerline poles
Diseases (non-comprehensive list)
Feline immunodeficiency virus (Lee et al. 2012)
Mange (Pence et al. 1982; Riley et al. 2007; Serieys et al. 2013; Serieys et al. 2015)
More prevalent in individuals experiencing chronic disease, poor nutrition/dehydration, or exposed to toxic chemicals (e.g., those used for rodent population control)
Canine-distemper (Daoust et al. 2009)
Rabies (Young 1958)
Parasites (non-comprehensive list)
Intestinal worms (Rollings 1945; Hall 1981; Camacho-Macías et al. 2018)
High prevalence of roundworms where in contact with humans, and domestic or feral animals (Camacho-Macías et al. 2018)
Protozoans (Harrison 2010)
E.g., Toxoplasma gondii (causes toxoplasmosis)
Mites (Pence et al. 1982)
Fleas (Young 1958; Stone and Pence 1977)
Ticks (Stone and Pence 1977; Wehinger et al. 1995)
Young Climber
Bobcat kittens are usually born in a rocky area, cave, or hollow log.