Bobcat (Lynx rufus) Fact Sheet: Reproduction & Development

Mating system

• Polygynous (Provost et al. 1973; Bailey 1974)
• Males and females require established home ranges to breed successfully (e.g., Bailey 1974; Janečka et al. 2006)

Courtship behavior and copulation

• Males produce loud calls during mating season (Hall 1981)
• Examples of courtship behaviors (McCord 1974b)
• Pursuit of female by male
• Bumping
• “Ambushes”
• Copulation short, but frequent, over one to several days (Mehrer 1975, as cited by Anderson 1987)
• Male and female in short-term association; separate after mating bouts complete (McCord 1974b; Hall 1981)
• Male does not guard female or provide care to offspring

Reproduction

• Sexual maturity
• Males
• About 1.5 to 2 years of age (Crowe 1975a; Fritts and Sealander 1978; Winegarner and Winegarner 1982; Larivière and Walton 1997)
• Successful breeding may depend on ability to hold territory
• Females (Crowe 1975a; Fritts and Sealander 1978; Larivière and Walton 1997)
• Physically mature at 1 year of age
• Begin breeding during 2^nd year
• Reproductive years
• Both sexes appear to breed until death (Crowe 1975a)

Seasonality

• Females seasonally polyestrous (e.g., Duke 1949; Crowe 1975a)
• In heat for 5 to 10 days at a time
• Usually give birth to one litter per breeding season
• Sometimes 2 litters, especially if first lost
• Breeding season
• May vary with location and climate (Crowe 1975a)
• Breeding can occur year-round, but generally December to May (Fritts and Sealander 1978; Anderson 1987; Sunquist and Sunquist 2009a)
• Mating peak in late winter: February to March (Jackson 1961; Anderson 1987; Nowell and Jackson 1996)
• Birthing peak in early spring: April to June (Crowe 1975a; Anderson 1987; Nowell and Jackson 1996)
• In southern part of range, may give birth in any month
• Environmental factors
• Drought may reduce pregnancy rates (Rolley 1985)

Hybridization

• Bobcat and Canada lynx known to hybridize (Schwartz et al. 2004; Homyack et al. 2008)

Gestation

• Gestation period
• Approximately 60 to 70 days (e.g., Jackson 1961; Hemmer 1976; Hemmer 1980)

Birth

• Litter size
• 2 to 3 young, on average (Bailey 1974; Crowe 1975a; Winegarner and Winegarner 1982; Anderson 1987; Sunquist and Sunquist 2009b)
• Range: majority 1 to 6 young; reportedly up to 8 (Gashwiler et al. 1961)
• Weight at birth
• Approximately 280 to 370 g (9.9 to 13 oz) (Banfield 1974)
• Young born in concealed den (Rollings 1945)
• Often rocky area or cave (Gashwiler et al. 1961; Jackson 1961; Bailey 1979)
• Occasionally in a hollow tree stump or log (Gashwiler et al. 1961; Jackson 1961), or human-made structure (Bailey 1979)

Investment

• Female provides all care to young (Bailey 1974)
• In some cases, male visits den during winter (Bailey 1979)
• Not known to provide care

Newborn

• 1 to 2 weeks old
  • Eyes open (Hemmer 1980)
  • First teeth erupt (Crowe 1975a)
  • Soft coat (Banfield 1974)

Juvenile

• 2 to 3 months old
  • Young weaned (Jackson 1961; Winegarner and Winegarner 1982)
• 3 to 5 months old
  • Young travel with mother (Bailey 1979; Winegarner and Winegarner 1982)
    • Learn hunting strategies
  • Stay close to den (Bailey 1979)
• 6 months old
  • Tooth development complete (Crowe 1975a)

Adult

• 9 to 12 months old
  • 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)

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)

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)

Bobcat kittens are usually born in a rocky area, cave, or hollow log.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.