The Wildlife Professional - Spring 2010 2009

Color-coded GPS data reveal the movements of five bobcats captured on Kiawah island in 2007. as the data make clear, the cats tend to keep well-defined home ranges. Male bobcat 138, however, had the most extensive home range ever recorded on Kiawah, and frequently traveled to neighboring islands, almost exclusively using man-made bridges.

winning bidder receives information about the animal’s weight, sex, and denning history, as well as a map of the cat’s telemetry locations and home range.

“There’s method to this madness.” says Windham.
“In order to preserve habitat, people need to know
why it’s important. The bobcat research has helped
us show that denning spots and resting areas are very
important, and that one lot does make a difference.”
Beyond the Bobcat Ball, the Conservancy has
numerous other programs to promote habitat pres-
ervation and raise funds. The ecological needs and
importance of the bobcat on Kiawah Island play a
major role in these endeavors. Among them:
• In 2007 the group initiated a Bobcat GPS Fellow-
ship Program to raise money to support our Bobcat
GPS Research Project. A total of 24 fellowships were

Making itself at home on an islander’s deck, a collared bobcat shows how these iconic carnivores have acclimated to development on Kiawah. Relatively small animals that average 10 to 25 pounds, the cats rarely cause human-wildlife conflicts. instead, they rally residents around the goal of conservation to sustain Kiawah’s natural beauty.

Credit: Ralph Schwartz

sold at a cost of $5,000 each to individual families or groups of island property owners.

• A new program called “It’s Hip to be Square” involves auctioning off “virtual” Kiawah property for $25 a square foot, with funds going toward habitat preservation. Held during the Bobcat Ball last year, the program started a good-natured “bidding war,” says Windham, raising almost $20,000.

• Through public talks, a newsletter, and its website the Conservancy uses bobcat data to educate property owners about the importance of understory vegetation to native wildlife. Homeowners and developers can earn “Sweetgrass Awards” for landscaping with native vegetation, preserving understory shrubs and forbs, and maintaining diverse habitat from the ground up, particularly along property edges. Such efforts combat the “ plantation” look of large open lawns, popular with some island residents.

• Most of the island’s vacation rental companies work cooperatively with the Conservancy to include an optional room donation to help fund habitat preservation, and many island businesses and corporate donors make substantial yearly donations to the cause.

Credit: James D. Jordan

To date, these and other efforts to integrate bobcat data into fundraising and habitat preservation programs have been extremely successful. Total contributions from donations of cash and land topped $1 million each year between 2005 and 2008, and the Bobcat Ball alone generated $245,000 in revenue from 2006 to 2009.