Two orphaned bobcat sisters were released into the wild near Powell River, B.C., on Friday, 10 months after they were found malnourished near a logging road.
Last July, Merrilee Prior from the Powell River Orphaned Wildlife Society (PROWLS) says she got a call about two kittens being found by someone driving up a logging road near the Sunshine Coast city.
Prior says the kittens were perhaps two weeks old, and their mother had been killed a day or two prior. Their eyes had just opened, and the two bobcats were “very, very hungry.”
“You should have heard them roar as we tried to put food in their cage,” she told Jason D’Souza, host of CBC’s All Points West. “They snarled and sounded like something from a sci-fi movie.”
Watch 2 bobcat sisters being released into the wild
After the kittens were put into a crate, the rescue society president then called up Angelika Langen — who runs the large Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers, B.C.
Over the next 10 months, Northern Lights put them in an enclosure where they couldn’t see other humans for the most part, in order to prepare them for going back into the wild.
“Food would be dropped down a chute,” Prior said. “So, they never associated food with humans, and they were just left to their own devices.
“And they snuggled and snarled and bickered and, you know, fought each other for food and grew up as young bobcats would.”
Langen says that her society always aims to return any beasts that they take care of to their natural homes, in order not to mess with genetics or population numbers.
“It was a lot of fun and quite an honour to be caring for them for that time,” she told CBC News.
Last week, Langen and the bobcats made a lengthy trip over three days — from Smithers to Prince Rupert, a ferry to Port Hardy, and then another ferry to Powell River.
“They came down in separate crates,” Prior said. “Because they squabbled a lot, and Angelika didn’t want them going out with bloody noses.”
When the time came for the release, Prior and her volunteers opened up the crates — and the two bobcats hesitated for a second before scurrying off.
“All I did was pick them up and ship them to someone who could raise them,” Prior said. “But it just, it felt wonderful.”
The exact number of bobcats in B.C. is unknown, but the small feline predators generally keep to themselves.
The Squamish-Lilooet Regional District advises residents of the province to cut back on wildlife attractants to avoid having them come inside people’s homes, and also be aware of claw marks on trails.
