Free online webinar with Amy Zuckerwise
Co-sponsored by UCSB

This presentation aired on Thursday July 22, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

Access the Webinar presentation recording by clicking this link: Bobcats: The Wildcats Next Door

To catch a glimpse of a bobcat (Lynx rufus) is a rare thrill for most of us, including avid hikers. Yet these important predators are a versatile species that occupies every major ecosystem in Southern California, from chaparral to conifer, oak, riparian, and pinyon-juniper woodlands and forests. Beyond California, bobcats’ range includes much of North America. Amy Zuckerwise, wildlife ecologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), provided an introduction to bobcats and their important role in our local ecosystems in Southern California. What are bobcats’ living habits? What is their current conservation status and what are the threats to their survival? Is it still legal to hunt bobcats? What should you do if you come across one in the wild? Amy  covered these topics as well as reviewed current efforts by her team at the CDFW to research bobcat populations in the state.

Amy Zuckerwise is a wildlife ecologist with a passion for feline conservation. She currently serves as the Bobcat Program Environmental Scientist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife South Coast Region. Amy earned her Master of Environmental Science in 2020 from the Yale School of the Environment focusing on indigenous and local knowledge of ocelots in the Amazon rainforest.  Originally from Los Angeles, she has conducted field work throughout California as well as in tropical forests across the globe.