BOBCATS ARE HUNTED IN PENNSYLVAINIA

STOP THE PENNA. GAME COMMISSION FROM TRAPPING AND KILLING PENNSYLVANIA BOBCATS
PENNSYLVANIANS PROTECT YOUR CATS!

BOBCAT DATELINE		ROLE IN ECOSYSTEM
BOBCAT SITES	FACTS ABOUT LEGHOLD TRAPS	BOBCAT BACKGROUND
EMAIL EVERYONE	READ BOBCAT - KILL MORATORIUM BILL	GET SAMPLE LETTER
WHO TO CONTACT	HALL OF FAME - HEROES AND HEROINES	CURRENT ACTION ANNOUNCEMENT

A female bobcat named grace, in a small dog cage at the rocky mountain animal park. SAD

BOBCATS DATELINE

• April 4, 2000 TOP
The Pennsylvania Game Commission approved hunting and trapping of bobcats. Intense public protest erupted against the plan. The Fund for Animals along with the Humane Society of the United States and many other groups began lobbying the Pennsylvania state legislature to save the bobcats.

• May 8, 2000
House Bill 560 Requiring a three year moratorium on bobcat hunting/trapping House Bill 560 as introduced into the PA State House of Representatives by Representative Gaynor Cawley. HB560 garners 29 co-sponsors.

• May- June, 2000
Hunters and trappers rally to stop HB 560 and succeed in getting five co-sponsor to rescind their support of HB 560. The five "turn-coats" who have WITHDRAWN THEIR NAMES are: Email these Five all at once.

Rep. Thomas Caltagirone (D - Berks) tcaltagi@pahouse.net
for Caltagirone, send a cc to cwinters@pahouse.net
Rep. Guy Travaglio (D - Butler) repguyatravagl@pahouse.com
Rep. Frank LaGrotta (D - Beaver, Butler, Lawrence)
Rep. Susan Laughlin (D - Allegheny, Beaver) slaughli@pahouse.net
Rep. Nicholas Micozzie ( R - Delaware) nmicozzi@pahousegop.com

• June 14, 2000:
Pennsylvania Bobcat Season Called "Mistake" by National Park Service Biologist
The Fund for Animals releases a report by Dr. Seth
Riley, a nationally renowned bobcat expert and National Park Service biologist, sharply criticizing the Pennsylvania Game Commission's bobcat trapping and hunting season. Dr. Riley refutes the Pennsylvania Game Commission's biological justifications for the trapping and hunting of bobcats, and calls for further studies to be completed to ensure the survival of this species in Pennsylvania .

BOBCATS BACKGROUND TOP

 

Bobcats are not overpopulated

The Bobcat (lunx rufus) is the only remaining wild cat in Pennsylvania. Mountain Lions and Canada Lynx once romed our forests, but due to excessive trapping and hunting, they became extinct. Thirty years ago, bobcats nearly suffered the same fate - they had been trapped and hunted almost out of existence. But due to the introduction of the Indangered Species Act of the 1970's, they were saved. Now the bobcats survival is being threatened by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The Commission will offer 290 permits. Hunters and Trappers will be able to "harvest" these bobcats in north central and north eastern Pennsylvania. They will skin the bobcats and sell their pelts for $18.00 - $24.00 each.

Bobcats Play An Important Role In The Ecosystem TOP

Bobcats control rabbit, rodent and other prey populations. As a keystone species, reduction in bobcat numbers can lead to prey population explosions and overforaging, increased competition for resources, and disruption of ecosystem stability. Rodent species such as the white-footed mouse carry diseases that are zoonotic - they can be transmitted to humans with sometimes fatal ramifications. These diseases include Lyme Disease, Toxoplasmosis, Hantavirus, Leptospirosis, and Tularemia. Retaining viable populations of bobcats will prevent the spread of such diseases into the human population while maintaining equilibrium in the animal community.

Bobcats Help Control Deer Numbers TOP

Dr. Gary Alt, a well-respected Pennsylvania Game Commission biologist stated in the Philadelphia Inquirer (4/2/2000) in reference to deer - "in the past they had lots of predators…(now) the few bobcats and coyotes around can't keep up with them".

 

Leghold Trap TOP

Most bobcats will die in the agonizing grip of a Leghold Trap. They are elusive by nature, so bobcats are difficult to shoot and trappers will use leghold traps to kill them. Leghold traps are the main commercial hunting technique used to catch bobcats in North America (Baker and Dwyer 1987, IFTF 1989). Trappers are supposed (and this is not enforced) to check the trap every twenty-four hours, so an animal caught in the trap may lay in agony for a day or more before they are killed, often brutally by being shot, clubbed or stomped to death.

The Sale of Bobcat Pelts TOP

The sale of bobcat pelts will become an international enterprise. The Pennsylvania Game Commission intends to apply for a CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) permit which will grant multi-year export status to bobcat pelts. Bobcat hunting will be a long-term program to be expanded and promoted as an international, commercial pelt enterprise financially benefitting trappers and hunters. More permits sold means more income for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Although the American Veterinary Medical Association has issued a statement condemning the use of these traps as inhumane and the European Community will not import pelts from animals that have been killed in leghold traps,the Pensylvania Game Commission refuses to abandon this barbaric legacy of the past. LEGHOLD TRAPS TOP OF THE PAGE

Because they are elusive by nature, most bobcats are difficult to shoot, so trappers will use leghold traps to kill them. Leghold traps are the main commercial hunting technique used to catch bobcats in North America (Baker and Dwyer 1987, IFTF 1989). Trappers set traps by their dens and wait for them to return. Trappers are supposed (and this is not enforced) to check the trap every twenty-four hours, so an animal caught in the trap may lay in agony for a day or more before they are killed, often brutally by being shot, clubbed or stomped to death.

PRINT OUT THE PETITION TO STOP THE BOBCAT KILL TOP

Collect signatures and mail it back to:
NOA Nonlethal Options for Animals
PO Box 880
Narberth PA. 19072
Call 1-866-626-4625

EMAIL EVERYONE
CONTACT EVERYONE IN ONE CLICK FIND ALL THE EMAIL AND ALL SNAIL MAIL + ALL FAX ADDRESSES.
Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. You can FIND your legislators by ZIP CODE

2. Write to your Local NewsPaper - Voice Your Opinion
SEE A SAMPLE LETTER
For Local Papers and Philadelphia Inquirer

3. EMAIL TO THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Email the Philadelphia Inquirer
Snail Mail Box 41705, Phila. PA 19101
Fax: 215-854-4483
SEE A SAMPLE LETTER
For Local Papers and Philadelphia Inquirer

4. EMAIL REP. GAYNOR CAWLEY
thanking him for HB 2534.
CAWLEY, GAYNOR Chairman email
113th Legislative District Lackawanna County

5. EMAIL REP. BRUCE SMITH
SEE A SAMPLE LETTER
Chariman of the House Game & Fisheries Committee
Pro-bobcat hunting, one of the "good ole boys".
Be sure to include your name, address and phone number.

6. EMAIL STATE SENATOR LISA M. BOSCOLA
(D, Northhampton County) boscola@dem.pasen.gov
548 North New Street, Bethlehem PA 18018
Who has sponsored a resolution in the State Senate requiring the PA Game Commission to rescind it's plan to kill bobcats.
SEE A SAMPLE LETTER The Honorable Lisa Boscola

BOBCAT SITES - FACTS: Top

Coryi Foundation, Inc. (Bobcat Research and Conservation)

Bobcat's tracks and natural history,
with notes about personal encounters with bobcats.

Bobcat (Felis rufus or Lynx rufus)
Photos and sounds of bobcats, description of bobcats and their habits. Print out Coloring Sheet

Lynx rufus
USDA Forest Service's information about bobcats, describing biology, habitat, distribution,references, and an article on how the bobcat is affected by wildfires.

Predator Conservation Alliance (PCA)
Dedicated to conserving protecting and restoring native predators and their habitats in the Northern Rockies and High Plains.

Message for Hunters Who Use This Site

HALL OF FAME ALL OUR HEROES AND HEROINES Top

Gaynor Cawley, Representative Lita Cohen

Connie Williams
State Representative 149th Legislative Distict
I have co-sponsored legislation that will be introduced by Rep. Gaynor Cawley which will place a three-year moratorium on the bobcat hunting and trapping season. The moratorium, if passed, will give us more time to study the issue.

1) State Senator Lisa M. Boscola <boscola@dem.pasen.gov>
548 North New Street, Bethlehem PA 18018
(D, Northhampton County) will sponsor a resolution
asking the PGC to rescind it's plan to kill bobcats. Tell her she has your support for her Resolution to Rescind the Bobcat Hunting/Trapping Plan.

3) Read Replies from Richard Tilghman + others.