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The secretive nature of the bobcat has helped spare its hide, at least for now.
Uncertainty over how many bobcats are in this country—and belief that their numbers are dropping—recently spurred a government ban on the export of their pelts. The ban will continue at least until a census is attempted on the elusive bobcat, which roams almost every state in the Union.
Although valiant fighters, bobcats go to great lengths to avoid people and will even flee dogs they could cut to ribbons. Nevertheless, the government estimates that last year 100,000 bobcats were killed.
Big Money In Pelts The ban puts a considerable dent in the bobcat pelt industry, which had sold three-fourths of its product to foreign fur salons. Because pelts of other endangered cats such as cheetach and leopard are unobtainable, bobcats had become big business. Individual pelts had been selling for $100 to $150 or more, compared with only $5 ipiece in the early 1960s. "The government should lave made a survey of bobcat populations before it put a ian on the export,” declared in industry representaive. However, William Brown, lirector of the authority that >anned the export, said: “We >elieve that the large-scale,
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