The shy and elusive bobcat, a native species once viewed as a pest and hunted to the verge of depletion from Pennsylvania’s forests, has slowly rebounded and stabilized. Those lucky enough to even see a bobcat in the wild witness the results of proper game and forest management practices.

“The bobcat was heavily persecuted through much of the state’s history,” said PA. Game Commission Furbearer Biologist Thomas Keller. “ At one point there were bounties on bobcats, and of course when most of the state was deforested, bobcats also suffered from that as well. So at one time we didn’t have very many at all throughout the state, but once they were protected and the season was closed we started to see cats rebound.”

Full story here.