IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group Library

IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library

View printer friendly
King, K.A.; Lord, W.D.; Ketchum, H.R.; O'Brien, R.C.
Facultative scavenging and carrion guild participation by _Lynx rufus_ in the presence of young
2015 The Southwestern Naturalist (60): 381-385
The bobcat (_Lynx rufus_) is typically described as an obligatory predator that infrequently scavenges and displays a strong preference for fresh prey. Scavenging behavior of the species has rarely been directly observed or documented and instead has been generally inferred from stomach content analysis. We observed a female bobcat and cub scavenging domestic pig (_Sus scrofa_) carcasses for a total of seven consecutive days during a carrion utilization study in central Oklahoma. These observations suggest that bobcats will readily exploit fresh carrion when under the caloric demands of rearing young. Bobcats possibly play an overlooked role in the guild of carrion recyclers in suburban and semirural ecosystems subjected to human encroachment.
	PDF files are only accessible to Friends of the Cat Group. Joining Friends of the Cat Group gives you unlimited access and downloads in the Cat SG Library for one year, and allows you to receive our newsletter Cat News (2 regular issues per year plus special issues). More information how to join here