The North-Central Illinois Bobcat project is a collaboration between Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and is led by a team of PhD students, Ellen Audia and Katie Buckman, across three research groups at SIU.

Funded via the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration program (Project W-213-R), administered through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), we began studying bobcat ecology in Peoria and Bureau counties in late 2022 and will continue through 2026. Our specific objectives are to (1) estimate survival, (2) quantify dispersal movements, (3) estimate reproductive parameters, (4) quantify spatial ecology and habitat selection, and (5) evaluate genetic structure and natural recolonization. Our goal is to provide the IDNR with information to support bobcat management in Illinois.