NAPLES, Fla. — A young female bobcat is rehabilitated and back out in the wild, thanks to the people at the Naples Zoo, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
Crews said a car hit her in late November. An FWC officer found the injured bobcat, then took it to the Emergency Pet Hospital of Collier County. The next day, she was transferred to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Then, she was transported again, to Naples Zoo. There, experst gave her a comprehensive exam and found out she had a fractured right pelvis.
During the first exam, FWC identified that this particular bobcat had already been marked with a chip as a kitten, as part of FWC research to study the cause of a neurological disorder, known as feline leukomyelopathy (FLM).
The bobcat spent eight weeks getting rehabilitized at Naples Zoo. After recovering, the FWC fitted the bobcat with a tracking collar and let her go into a wooded area in Naples.
Post-release tracking data already shows her moving freely, traveling several miles across north Naples.
