2 months ago
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(INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) — The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has closed the bobcat trapping season after reaching the statewide quota of 250 bobcats in just four weeks.
The season was scheduled to run from Nov. 8 to Jan. 31, or until the quota of bobcats was reached.
A DNR news release said the framework of Indiana’s bobcat season was carefully designed with a total harvest limit based on population data collected throughout the state. Databases and reporting mechanisms were put into place to allow for close monitoring of the total season harvest.
“Licensed trappers had a successful first bobcat trapping season,” said Geriann Albers, DNR’s furbearer and gamebird program leader. “DNR will review what we’ve learned from this season as we move forward with regulated harvest and bobcat management.”
The bobcat season came after lawmakers passed legislation requiring the DNR to establish one. Before that, attempts to legalize killing bobcats had stalled in the DNR.
This bobcat trapping season was the first since 1969, when the species was nearly eliminated due to hunting, trapping and habitat loss. It was limited to 40 southern Indiana counties, including Brown, Monroe, Bartholomew, Clark and Dearborn.
Samantha Chapman, Indiana state director for Humane Worl...
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