Roanoke – The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center in Roanoke is building a statewide reputation for rehabilitating Virginia’s only wildcat: the bobcat.
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The center recently took in two orphaned bobcat kittens transferred from another rehabilitation facility in Lee County. Staff members say bobcats are among the most complex — and expensive — animals to rehabilitate, in part because the goal is to raise them without making them comfortable around people.
“Luckily these guys are already really, really feisty,” said Katherine McGrath, the center’s director of operations. She’s become an expert on what it takes to rehabilitate bobcats. At about 5 weeks old, she said, the kittens are already growling and swatting — behavior the staff wants to encourage.
That means some unusual rules for anyone who gets close.
On an exclusive visit, 10 News was required to wear a KN95 mask (felids are highly susceptible to covid-19) and a bobcat mask to keep faces covered and remain completely silent to avoid imprinting the animals.
“We essentially don’t want them to associate people with food,” McGrath said. If the kittens learn that humans bring meals and attention, she said, “they lose that fear that they have of us.”
That fear is key to survival in the wild — and it has been a focus of previous bobcat releases the center has handled in recent years.
In April the SWVA Wildlife Center released two adult bobcats in Floyd County after successfully rehabilitating them. 10 Mews followed them during their entire journey. Watch their story here: Bobcats released into Virginia wild after nearly year-long rehab at Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center
The new kittens arrived underweight and dehydrated, said Executive Director Chester Leonard. The center believes their mother may have been hit by a car, leaving the kittens on their own for a day or two before a rescuer found them.
The good news: They are already gaining weight. Leonard said each kitten arrived a little over 500 grams, and within about three days had gained another 100 to 150 grams.
Many people ask about the markings on their foreheads or ears. This is something you’ll find on almost every mammal at the center. The kittens have colored dots on their ears, a system staff uses to tell them apart while tracking weight, medication and overall health. It is also one of the only times the bobcats will be handled by humans during their roughly 10-month rehabilitation.
McGrath said it is unusual to receive bobcat kittens in back-to-back years, but habitat loss and increasing development can push wildlife into closer contact with people.
“As their population declines, as urbanization increases and their habitat declines in size, there’s not really a lot of places where we can find these guys, where they’re getting into contact with people enough that they’re coming into us,” McGrath said. “So we usually get them every other year, so one year after another is sort of a surprise to us.”
Rehabilitating the kittens will be a lengthy and expensive process. The center estimates the total cost of rehabilitation to exceed $20,000 before the animals are released, likely sometime next spring — making it one of the longest and most expensive rehabilitations the center has ever undertaken.
That cost covers staffing, medicine, veterinary exams, enclosure maintenance and food. As the kittens grow, each will consume the equivalent of one whole chicken per day, at approximately $10 per chicken. In the final months of rehabilitation, staff will need to introduce prey the bobcats would naturally find in the wild, such as quail and rabbits. A single large rabbit costs $23, and each kitten may eat at least one per day — sometimes more.
What started as a small rescue, has grown over the past decade to a true wildlife veterinary hospital. Now, it’s clear they have earned a statewide reputation for their ability to successfully rehabilitate bobcats.
“It’s been a challenge learning to care for these guys, but it’s something we’ve actually become experts at doing and we look forward to welcoming them every year because it’s becoming a tradition it seems like,” Leonard said.
For now, bright blue eyes peek out from behind a carrier hole and an enclosure gate. If rehabilitation goes as planned, the next glimpse will be a fleeting one — disappearing back into the mountains.
How to help
The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center is accepting donations to help cover the cost of the kittens’ care. Donations can be made online at swvawildlifecenter.org/make-a-donation or by mailing a check to:
Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center
5985 Coleman Road
Roanoke, VA 24018
Watch more about the bobcat kittens and other conservation work happening in SWVA in the Emmy nominated 10 News Special Vanishing Voices: Saving Virginia’s Wildlife.