The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports eight states in the Midwest have gotten more than $200 million dollars as part of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. One of those projects is based here in the Northwoods. The federal funds were received for a study of bobcats.
DNR animal researcher Nathan Roberts based in Rhinelander is doing an extensive study on the elusive cat. He says they need to find out the population size so they know how many can be hunted and maintain a sustainable population ...
"....each year there is a process where we determine how many tags can be issued and we need information on the population size to be able to issue an appropriate number of tags...."
Roberts says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife funding has provided the bulk of the money for the bobcat project.
He says other funding has come from the state license fees. He says the project includes placing GPS tracking collars their movement and mortality. Roberts says their into their second year and he thinks it could last another two years.
More than $32 million federal dollars have come to Wisconsin for these types of projects.
