By the time the call reached Wild Heart Ranch in Oklahoma, the damage had already been done. A young bobcat had spent nearly three months nestled among children’s toys and home comforts, learning human routines instead of wild instincts.
“Someone called saying they had the cat 10 weeks,” Annette King, founder of the rehabilitation facility, told Newsweek. “Two weeks later, she was brought to us, hopelessly imprinted on humans.”
The timeline didn’t add up. King said: “I was told she had the cat two weeks; completely untrue. She wouldn’t have been able to touch this animal had she found it two weeks earlier.”
The bobcat was gently domesticated, likely cuddled, and allowed to mingle with children. When the animal arrived at Wild Heart Ranch, she thought she belonged indoors.
“This bobcat thinks it is a house cat and was clearly raised with children,” King said.
Wild Heart Ranch is set in 140 acres of northeastern Oklahoma, and, since 1996, the team has released more than 100,000 wild animals back to their rightful places in nature. A charity, the workers rely on support from the public to continue their work.
But the ranch operates under strict regulations: wild animal intakes must be rehabilitated and released within six months or they face euthanasia. In the past, King was able to place non-releasable animals into educational facilities and zoos. This time, that option was denied. With tightening laws, King’s job just became harder.
The laws are complex on bobcat ownership are complex. Bobcats are legal to own in only a handful of U.S. states without a permit—such as Alabama, Nevada, and North Carolina. In many others, including Oklahoma, strict rehabilitation or exotic pet permits are required. While most states, it is illegal to keep a bobcat without proper authorization.
“I will not euthanize healthy animals who can be content in captivity,” King said, “though I do not like or approve of caging any wild animal permanently. However, it has been the lesser of two evils thus far.”
To save the bobcat, King transferred her to another rehabber housing a wild cub of the same age. The idea is simple: wildness is contagious.
“This pairing will help ours become wild as she will bond with the other cat and will not be interacted with by people,” King said. “Release is entirely possible now.”
But King added that the broader risks of domesticating wild animals. “The public in Oklahoma needs to understand and accept that keeping wildlife past the legal allowed timeline of 24 hours risks the very lives of these animals they care enough about to save,” she said. “We cannot do our job if finders do not follow the laws in place.”
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