As trapping season for furbearing animals begins in West Virginia, a team of West Virginia University researchers is taking “DNA fingerprints” of the Mountain State’s bobcat population to evaluate whether there should be future increases or decreases in bag limits or if the season should be shortened or lengthened.
With the help of a $270,000 grant from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, the team will determine the population, productivity and health of bobcats in the state.
Bobcats are wild cats native to North America with black-flecked tan and white coats.
“We want to establish a better bobcat population assessment so that we can evaluate whether the state should continue the current trapping limit of three bobcats annually or if management practices need to be revised to increase or reduce harvest to achieve a sustainable population and harvest,” said Jim Anderson, Davis-Michael Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources in WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design.
“They have an average of two kittens per litter with a 62 percent adult survival rate,” said Stephanie Landry, a graduate student in wildlife and fisheries resources and a participant in the project. “In the past decade, the West Virginia harvest of bobcats has doubled from around 1,000 to close to 2,000.”
The team was challenged with finding an effective way to survey the bobcat population, its movements and its overall health.
The solution was found in DNA.
“We are using ‘DNA fingerprints’ to not only estimate the population size, but to determine differences in abundance and distribution in the various regions of the state, and identify potential barriers to gene flow—the population’s ability to move throughout the state,” Anderson explained.
Bobcats are elusive, solitary hunters and difficult to observe in the wild. To obtain DNA samples, the team will deploy dozens of hair-snare devices throughout the state—rayed steel cables designed to attract animals and collect hair samples through contact as the animals walk by or step over the devices.
“This type of sample collection is considered non-invasive because it doesn’t cause stress to the animal,” explained Amy Welsh , assistant professor of wildlife and fisheries resources. “The genetic samples we obtain will provide valuable information.”
The DNA samples can be used to estimate the size of West Virginia’s bobcat population through a method known as “mark-recapture.” Each bobcat that has been sampled is “marked” by its own DNA fingerprint. The next year, samples will be collected from the same areas and bobcats that have been sampled both years will be considered “recaptures.”
A comparison is made between the numbers of new bobcats that provided samples only in the second year versus those that were “recaptured” from the first year. This measure can then be used to estimate the overall size of the bobcat population throughout the state.
“The genetic fingerprints constructed for population measure can also provide information on bobcat movements throughout the state,” said Thomas Rounsville, another wildlife graduate student involved in the research. “These DNA fingerprints may have types unique to a particular region of West Virginia. A bobcat from Morgantown may look genetically different than one from Huntington. If the bobcats in Weston have DNA fingerprints that look like a combination of the two, then there have to be bobcats moving between the two areas.”
The DNA analysis will be used in combination with harvest data on age, reproductive rates and diet to develop a population assessment and survey of overall health.
In addition to DNA fingerprinting, the team is working in cooperation with the state’s trapping and hunting community.
“Hunters’ main interest is in bobcat pelts, but we want to gather information from those existing carcasses to help us determine the age, reproductive rates and diets (from stomach contents),” Anderson explained.
“This can provide us with valuable information about the population that we cannot obtain from a DNA sample.”
The WVU team will work closely with Rich Rogers and Chris Ryan of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
“The DNR is very excited to partner with WVU to examine bobcat population dynamics in West Virginia,” said Ryan. “These data will be invaluable as we continue to manage the bobcat resources for the citizens of this great state.”
Trappers and hunters that would like to participate in the study should contact Landry at wvubobcat@mail.wvu.edu or 304.293.0050.
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dw/ms/11/05/14
CONTACT: David Welsh; Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
304-293-2394; David.Welsh@mail.wvu.edu
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