Floyd County – After nearly a year of round-the-clock care, two bobcats have been released back into the mountains of Southwest Virginia — and they made it clear they were ready.
The bobcats, raised at the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center since last summer, were set free near Floyd, Virginia, in mid-April — completing a rehabilitation journey that tested the center’s resources, its team and its heart.
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A roadside rescue that started it all
The story began when Sol Atkins was on his way to work and spotted something in a ditch he assumed was an ordinary kitten.
“I saw a little kitten in the ditch, and I figured it was dumped, just like a regular domestic kitten,” Atkins said. “And so, I turned around, picked it up, was going to go to the Humane Society on my way to work, and it started making noises over there in the passenger seat, like I had not heard a kitten make those noises before. I picked it and started looking at it, saw that little tail, and so I was like, oh, this is something else.”
The kitten, it turned out, was a bobcat — and a true orphan. Staff at the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center explained how the animal ended up alone.
“He is what we consider a true orphan,” said Katherine McGrath during an interview with 10 News in the summer of 2025. She works as an intern and volunteer coordinator at the center. “Unfortunately, he was found in Floyd on the side of the road with his mother who had been hit by a car. Luckily, someone stopped by and picked him up and brought him to us.”
Shortly after that first arrival, two more bobcat kittens came to the center, requiring round-the-clock bottle feedings and emergency care.
The second kitten, a female, was found in Grayson County in June of 2025, wedged between a pile of rocks in a yard. A dog alerted the owner, who discovered the kitten without its mother. Despite searching the area, no mother was found. It’s likely she had moved on due to the nearby presence of the dog,” said Leonard.
The third kitten, a male, was found in Wytheville in June of 2025 after its mother was hit and killed by a vehicle. The finder initially tried to keep it but could not care for it and brought it to the center.
Watch the story here: CAT WATCH: See rescued bobcat kittens live on camera at SWVA Wildlife Center
Raising wild cats — without letting them forget they’re wild
From the very first feedings, staff and volunteers took careful precautions to make sure the kittens stayed wild. Bobcat masks were worn during feedings to prevent the kittens from associating human faces with food — a process known as imprinting or habituation.
“It’s called habituation or imprinting depending on the animal, and we want to avoid that at all costs because an imprinted or habituated animal is unfortunately non-releasable,” McGrath said. “Meaning he can’t go back into the wild if he habituates or imprints.”
As 10 News has reported, the kitten rescued from Wythe County was later deemed non-releasable because it had become habituated to people. The male now has a new home.
“The habituated bobcat has been finally transferred to the Oklahoma City Zoo, where it’s been named Poe, and it’s going be in their large carnivore exhibit,” said Executive Director Chester Leonard during an interview with 10 News in early 2026. “It’s going to have a lovely, huge habitat.”
Leonard said bobcats are expected to live upwards of 20 plus years in captivity.
Leonard said the Wythe County animal was found last year after a family who thought they had a domestic kitten realized — after seeing a WSLS news segment — that the animal was a bobcat. The family had allowed children to handle and feed the kitten, which led staff to determine it had become too habituated to people to return to the wild.
Leonard described the center’s efforts to re-wild the animal, saying staff tried months of minimal human interaction and even kept it with the two other rescued bobcats that were more feral. “We knew after a good four months of it still doing that, that it was not going to become feral,” he said, and the center began seeking a long-term home.
Leonard said the Smithsonian National Zoo helped connect the center with the Oklahoma City Zoo.
“I know it’s not what we originally wanted but it’s the best-case scenario and we’re really lucky to find someone to take it."
Watch more about the decision here in a 10 News Special Vanishing Voices: Saving Virginia’s Wildlife.
The remaining two kittens spent the winter at the center, learning to hunt and growing quickly — all while a community of viewers watched them emerge each evening on the 10 News Bobcat Cam on Wsls.com .
The extended stay made this the most expensive rehabilitation the center had undertaken to date. Chester Leonard, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center, described just how much the care added up.
“It’s months and months of rehab — almost a full year — and as they grow, they start eating up, you know, one pound of chicken a day,” Leonard said. “Toward the end, they eat something like a whole rabbit a day. About $60 worth of food each day the last several months. It really adds up.”
Release day: Bittersweet, surreal — heart-racing
When spring arrived, it was time for the bonded pair to return to the wild. The release site was near Floyd — close to where Atkins had found the first male nearly a year before.
For Atkins, seeing the animal again brought the journey full circle.
“It’s just like a full circle thing,” he said. “Like, I held it in my hand as a kitten and it could have really messed me up, like watching it take off through the woods like that. It was pretty cool," Atkins said, referring to how aggressive the pair were toward anyone who came near them while in the crate.
Since first discovering the kitten, Sol decided to volunteer for the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center to support their mission. He is now permitted as a transporter.
The release was emotional — but also a reminder of just how wild the cats had become. As center staff worked to open the cage doors, the bobcats lunged and clawed, giving everyone a vivid demonstration of what a year of careful rehabilitation had produced.
“They are much more feisty — maybe even say ferocious,” Leonard said. “Some folks will see from the footage, you can see how they’re trying to get my hands as I’m trying to free them. But, it’s truly an amazing day. It was surreal, honestly. And I definitely had my heart beating a little bit there too.”
Atkins noted the behavior was exactly what the team had hoped for.
“If they weren’t lunging at us and jumping at us, then they wouldn’t have such a chance out here in the wild,” he said.
The moment nearly a year of work had built toward was over in seconds as the pair bolted into the woods.
“A few seconds, but my heart definitely was racing at the same time,” Leonard said. “So, it’s exciting. It’s a great story. It’s bittersweet. But in the end, we had a successful rehab, and we got two bobcats back in the wild that are going to maintain the wildlife populations. And it’s a good way to see the health of an ecosystem as well, because as the predators are doing well, we know everything else from there down is also doing well in the food chain.”
For Leonard and his team, the release was its own kind of reward — even if saying goodbye wasn’t easy.
“It’s bittersweet, to be honest,” Leonard said. “We love seeing them go home. We love knowing that we did a great job rehabbing them. But at the same time, having them in our care for such a long period of time, you can’t help but get a little bit attached, right?”
Two bobcats. One mission. A healthier ecosystem.
The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center’s work with these bobcats reflects a broader mission: protecting native wildlife and the ecosystems they support. The successful release of a predator species is considered a strong indicator of overall ecosystem health.
The pair are already bonded. Leonard said it’s possible the two may even mate one day, raising the next generation of bobcats.
To donate to the care of the bobcats or support the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center: https://swvawildlifecenter.org/make-a-donation/
Watch more about the bobcat kittens rescue watch a 10 News Special Vanishing Voices: Saving Virginia’s Wildlife.