Bobcat
Lynx rufus (Schreber, 1777)
The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is a mammal in the order Carnivora, family Felidae and genus Lynx, also called the bay lynx, red lynx, howling lynx and common American wild cat. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial and nocturnal carnivore with an adult body mass of 8.9 kg, and our sources report up to 9.4 kg.
Quick facts about the bobcat
Its main foods include snowshoe hare, cottontail rabbit, rabbit, american red squirrel, muskrat, wild turkey, canada goose, fish, insect and carrion. Gestation lasts 66 days, litters average 2.5 young with up to 3, and it has 1 litter per year; the IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
- Weight
- 8.9 kg – 9.4 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 26.8 years – 32.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- american marten, american red squirrel, black-tailed prairie dog, canada goose, carrion, cottontail rabbit and 20 moresrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 60 days – 70 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.53 – 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 21 months – 2.37 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the bobcat
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the bobcat live?
Not recorded
What is the bobcat?
The bobcat (Lynx rufus), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus Lynx. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2002, due to its wide distribution and large population. Although it has been hunted extensively both for sport and fur, populations have proven stable, though declining in some areas.
It has distinctive black bars on its forelegs and a black-tipped, stubby (or "bobbed") tail, from which it derives its name. It reaches a total length (including the tail) of up to 125 cm (50 in). It is an adaptable predator inhabiting wooded areas, semidesert, urban edge, forest edge, and swampland environments. It remains in some of its original range, but populations are vulnerable to extirpation by coyotes and domestic animals.
Though the bobcat prefers rabbits and hares, it hunts insects, chickens, geese and other birds, small rodents, and deer. Prey selection depends on location and habitat, season, and abundance. Like most cats, the bobcat is territorial and largely solitary, although with some overlap in home ranges. It uses several methods to mark its territorial boundaries, including claw marks and deposits of urine or feces. The bobcat breeds from winter into spring and has a gestation period of about two months.
Two subspecies are recognized: one east of the Great Plains, and the other west of the Great Plains. It is featured in some stories of the indigenous peoples of North and Central America, and in the folklore of European-descended inhabitants of the Americas.
From the Wikipedia article “Bobcat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobcat&oldid=1381416479), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the bobcat endangered?
The bobcat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the bobcat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyFelidae
- genusLynx
- SpeciesLynx rufus (Schreber, 1777)
Synonyms Felis rufus, Lynx rufus escuinapae, Lynx rufus oaxacensis
Other names and names in other languages (79)
- Bay lynxEnglish
- Bay lynxEnglish
- Common American wild catEnglish
- Howling lynxEnglish
- Red lynxEnglish
- Noord-Amerikaanse RooikatAfrikaans
- KowaachiAlabama
- وشق أحمرArabic
- وشق الكميتArabic
- وشق كميتArabic
- Lince royoAragonese
- багӏараб цӏиркъAvaric
- kürən vaşaqAzerbaijani
- рудая рысьBelarusian
- червен рисBulgarian
- ˀanaqpuwboi
- liñs rousBreton
- ᎬᎮCherokee
- mohkaveCheyenne
- rys červenýCzech
- RødlosDanish
- RotluchsGerman
- cerwjeny rysLower Sorbian
- Αμερικανικός ΛύγκαςGreek
- LinceSpanish
- Gato MontésSpanish
- Lince americanoSpanish
- Lince rojoSpanish
- MojocuánSpanish
- گربه دمکوتاهPersian
- PunailvesFinnish
- amerikanilvesFinnish
- lynx baiFrench
- Chat sauvageFrench
- lynx rouxFrench
- PichouCajun French
- cat-fiadhaichScottish Gaelic
- שונר מצויHebrew
- crveni risCroatian
- čerwjeny rysUpper Sorbian
- vörös hiúzHungarian
- Կարմիր լուսանArmenian
- bruna lincoIdo
- Lince rossaItalian
- ボブキャットJapanese
- 보브캣Korean
- 붉은스라소니Korean
- ятӏулсса цӏиникьlbe
- rudoji lūšisLithuanian
- p'č'əblut
- p'əč'əblut
- rūsganais lūsisLatvian
- Juya Missimfy
- йошкар шурмаҥшеMari
- KowakkeMuscogee
- KowakkuceMuscogee
- Náshdóí łibáhígííNavajo
- RødgaupeNorwegian Bokmål
- Rode LynxDutch
- Gidagaa-bizhiwOjibwa
- ryś rudyPolish
- باب بلاWestern Panjabi
- Lince-pardoPortuguese
- puka linsiQuechua
- Râs roșuRomanian
- Рыжая рысьRussian
- Красная рысьRussian
- rrëqebulliAlbanian
- RödloSwedish
- บอบแคตThai
- Doru vaşakTurkish
- Kızıl VaşakTurkish
- кельыт балянUdmurt
- Рись рудаUkrainian
- Руда русьUkrainian
- ˀalxay’veo
- linh miêu mỹVietnamese
- 短尾貓Chinese
- 美國山貓Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the bobcat
Other species in the same genus Lynx.
Eurasian lynx
Lynx lynx
Iberian lynx
Lynx pardinus
Canada lynx
Lynx canadensis
CompareBobcat vs Eurasian lynxBobcat vs Iberian lynxBobcat vs Canada lynxBobcat vs Lynx spelaea
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a bobcat?
The bobcat is a mammal of the order Carnivora and the family Felidae, placed in the genus Lynx.
How heavy is a bobcat?
An adult Bobcat has a body mass of 8.9 kg, and our sources report up to 9.4 kg. This places it in the medium size class.
What does a bobcat eat?
The bobcat is a carnivore whose main foods include snowshoe hare, cottontail rabbit, american red squirrel, black-tailed prairie dog, muskrat, wild turkey, fish and carrion.
Is the bobcat endangered?
No. The bobcat is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a bobcat live?
Our sources give a lifespan of 26.8 years for the bobcat, with values up to 32.3 years.
How many young does a bobcat have?
A bobcat litter averages 2.5 young, with up to 3, and it has 1 litter per year after a gestation of 66 days.
When does a bobcat reach sexual maturity?
A bobcat reaches sexual maturity at 2.1 years, with reported values from 1.7 to 2.4 years.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Bobcat (Lynx rufus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bobcat
“Bobcat (Lynx rufus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bobcat.
@misc{bobcat_2026,
title = {Bobcat (Lynx rufus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bobcat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}