Bobcat Captured by RivCo Animal Services, Released Back Into Wild Upon Consult from Living Desert

An injured bobcat captured by the the county's animal services department early Sunday was successfully treated for cuts and a concussion and then released back into the wild, after vets received some advice about the creature from The Living Desert's specialists, it was reported.

According to Riverside County Department of Animal Services Spokesman John Welsh, the large cat was impounded around 2 a.m. Sunday from a Riverside neighborhood after a man reported "hitting a tiger" with his car.

When police and animal control officers arrived at the scene a short time later, on La Sierra near Victoria avenues, they didn't find a tiger-- but another large animal.

"They looked underneath the man’s car and discovered a bobcat hiding near one of the front wheels," Welsh said. 

Though the animal appeared "dazed" with the situation,  animal  control officers were able to wrangle it in with a catch pole, he said.

"They rushed the bobcat to one of the county’s contract partners, the Animal Emergency Clinic in Grand Terrace," Welsh said.  "The young male, about 8 months in age, appeared to have a concussion, a veterinary doctor at the clinic reported.  Abrasions to his head and body were visible but all limbs were OK."

According to Welsh, one of the responding animal control officers, Officer Tiffany Fuller, contacted Palm Desert's The Living Desert zoo for consultation on rehabilitating the bobcat. 

"After consulting with The Living Desert, the veterinary doctor at the Grand Terrace clinic and with veterinary professionals at the county’s main shelter in Jurupa Valley, the consensus was to release the bobcat back into the wild," Welsh said. 

The bobcat was released later in the day into a "rural location" near La Sierra Avenue and El Sobrante Road, which is within four miles of where he was found, according to Welsh.

Prior to his release, Fuller reported the bobcat was much more alert and "spunky" than when he was first captured.

"The release location was in compliance with state Fish & Wildlife’s relocation guidelines," he added.