A lone bobcat was caught on camera while it was wandering near the C&O Canal in the Georgetown neighborhood of D.C. The rare sighting received a lot of attention both from the public and the media.
The camera that shot the bobcat was one of those placed in the area as part of the D.C. Cat Count project run by the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA).
According to the HRA, the image surfaced on Friday, but it was taken in November 2019.
There was no previous observations at the site, and the last one reported was an escapee from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, which was later returned to its home.
Daniel Herrera, a field technician with the HRA who examines photos captured by automated wildlife cameras in D.C. was almost shocked to see the bobcat among the pictures.
Participating in my very first #FelidFriday with a #bobcat found in @COcanalNPS in #WashingtonDC ! #iNaturalist shows no observations in the area, and the last reported was a (now returned) escapee from @NationalZoo so this is a rare find! #mammalwatching pic.twitter.com/jZJLlEGdvh
— Dan Herrera (@HerreraWildlife) January 10, 2020
“I thought maybe I was looking at it wrong and maybe it was just a weird-looking house cat,” he told WAMU. “Immediately I thought, this might be another Georgetown mountain lion.”
“The #DCBobcat is gaining a lot of media attention!” Herrera tweeted on January 14, sharing a compilation of links to all the media stories related to the D.C. bobcat on his website “so they aren’t lost in the shuffle.”
“The D.C. Cat Count is a unique and ambitious three-year project that brings together a diverse group of experts and organizations to pursue these goals in Washington, D.C. In addition, this project will serve as a highly visible example of constructive collaboration between animal welfare organizations, wildlife scientists, academic institutions, and citizens who wish to cooperatively pursue common goals for cats and wildlife rather than engage in conflict,” the project’s website says.
It has over 1,000 motion-activated wildlife cameras around the District.
The #DCBobcat is gaining a lot of media attention! I'm linking all the stories at my website so they aren't lost in the shuffle. Check them out! https://t.co/IeCkx254My#bobcat #DC #WashingtonDC #BIGNEWS #UrbanEcology #UrbanWildlife pic.twitter.com/PANb7tPzmB
— Dan Herrera (@HerreraWildlife) January 15, 2020