Indiana DNR proposes increasing bobcat hunting quota

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is proposing to increase the annual bobcat hunting and trapping quota from 250 to 400, representing a 60 percent increase.

Critics of the proposal argue that the decision lacks sufficient data from the previous trapping season. Concerns have been raised that the DNR’s own population models suggest a quota of 400 could lead to local extinction of the species in Indiana within a decade. Advocates for the bobcat population emphasize the species' role in controlling rodent and rabbit populations and are calling on Governor Braun and the Natural Resources Commission to reject the expansion based on scientific evidence.