Hoosiers from around the state voiced opposition to a proposed bobcat trapping season in Indiana at a public hearing Thursday in Franklin.
An overwhelming majority opposed the idea entirely or wanted the DNR to lower the quota of bobcats from 250 a year to 50 a year.
Samantha Chapman, Indiana State Director for the Humane Society of America, says the DNR has not provided enough population data to support a trapping season on Indiana’s only resident wild cat.
“It's a recovering population here in the state of Indiana, and so we just need more information before we know how many bobcats we could sustainably take here in Indiana, before we just start opening up a season for trapping,” she said.
Chapman also attended the previous public comment meeting held in Butlerville in November and says the crowd was strongly in favor of a bobcat trapping season.
About 20 people attended Thursday’s meeting, and only Bartholomew County resident Thomas Hodnatt spoke in favor of the proposed rule.
“The only objection to the ruling is, I think it's too little,” he said. “Forty counties, 250, I mean, that's an insignificant number. They're over populating. They're the number one predator in Indiana now. And they kill everything.”
The Indiana General Assembly has mandated that the DNR have rules in place for a bobcat trapping season by July 1.
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