Bobcats are, like many game species, a conservation success story. Like the wild turkey and white-tailed deer, the bobcat’s numbers were at an all-time low in the early 20th century. Numbers dropped so low in Illinois that the cat was officially listed as extirpated from the state, with their population slow to return over the next 100 years. From 1977 until 1999 they were listed as threatened, but with careful management the predators have bounced back and now total an estimated 5,000 individuals within Illinois’ boundaries.
The next stage of their rebound is the controlled management of the bobcat’s population via hunting. For the first time in decades, the state’s DNR is issuing 500 permits for a $6 application fee. The permit holder can take one bobcat, either by hunting or trapping, from November 5 through January 20 (or January 25 depending on the hunting zone).
If they can get a permit, that is. As of Wednesday morning, 5,349 people had reportedly applied for tags. Many of them, however, are not hunters at all. An anti-hunting group is reportedly trying to buy up the tags, preventing those who would actually use them from participating in this lawful hunt.
“In the age of human-induced species loss we live in today, I think extra caution should be exercised,” an anonymous applicant told DNAinfo.com. “Allowing the harvest of up to 500 animals seems dangerously high. … The [DNR] does many good things in our state, but this seems to be a time when they have jumped the gun, so to speak.”
To add even more problems to this already convoluted mess, no one knows for sure who these antis are. The group’s constituents have reportedly asked family members to apply for tags as well, meaning many of the 5,000-plus sold tags could go to waste.
The lottery ends tomorrow, September 30. Only time will tell if anti-hunters have effectively stalled an otherwise happy ending to the bobcat’s recovery story.