Mexican Bobcat

1. By: Danielle Isabel Mexican Bobcat

2. Description  The bobcat is tawny (grayer in winter), with indistinct dark spotting, a short, stubby tail, with 2 or 3 black bars and black tip above; pale or white below; upper legs have dark or black horizontal bars, their face has thin, often broken black lines radiating onto broad cheek ruff and the ears are slightly tufted.

3. Habitat  It lives primarily in scrubby country or broken forests—hardwood, coniferous, or mixed; also swamps, farmland, and rocky or brushy arid lands

4. Their lifestyles They mostly hunt rabbits and hares. May also eat rodents, birds, bats , adult deer, lambs, poultry and young pigs when a ranch is near. Predators that hunt babies- foxes, coyotes, and large owls Predators for adults- humans Diseases- parasites {both internal and external}

5. What happens if this species goes extinct This subspecies is important because of the many organisms they eat. If this species becomes extinct, then the prey that they eat will grow beyond the earth’s carrying capacity for them.

6. Why is the Mexican Bobcat about to go extinct? Many people want the pelt of this species. Yet, they are overhunting the very cats that they had become wealthy off of. Because of this, the population number is decreasing. We need to take action for this controversial act.

7. How to protect it? There are many acts to protect this beautiful species. One of these acts is that it is now illegal to hunt the Mexican bobcat. Yet, a few years later, it was delisted in the U.S. for being an endangered species on the pressure of the National Trappers Association.