Not all of the wildcats call the Akron Zoo home.
It turns out some are calling the Cuyahoga Valley National Park home.
Officials say there have been confirmed sightings of bobcats in the 33,000-acre national park that stretches roughly from Akron to Cleveland.
National Park officials say there have also been sightings in both the Cleveland and Summit metroparks.
Park officials say they do not want to disclose the exact locations of the bobcat sightings to help protect them and visitors.
“The best way to help protect (the bobcats) is to let us know and not post their location on social media,” said National Park spokesperson Pamela Barnes.
According to the park service, there have been documented sightings throughout the park including on trail cameras where suitable habitats are found.
“Seeing a bobcat is similar to seeing a coyote − they don’t want to be near us, so you don’t see them often,” Barnes said.
Bobcats can be found throughout the state with the number of confirmed sightings increasing in the last five to six years.
“There is a core population in southern Ohio, and they are moving up here,” Barnes said.
Like any encounter with wildlife within the sprawling park, officials urge “lucky” visitors who might spot a bobcat to keep a sage distance.
“Typically, the only chance of aggression towards us is if they are denning with young,” Barnes said. “We don’t have any evidence of this now.”
Wildlife officials recommend that you do not run or turn your back on a bobcat.
Make loud noises to scare it off.
And if you have a water bottle, throw or spray water toward the bobcat.
Visitors who may encounter a bobcat in the Cuyahoga Valley are asked to call the park service at 440-717-3890 and not make any social media posts.
The Cuyahoga Valley National Park with its dense, thick areas with mixed shrubby plants make for an attractive home for bobcats. The park’s abundance of rodents, small mammals, snakes and amphibians offer plenty of sources of food.
Bobcats are the latest animals and critters to return to the park joining beaver, turkey, bald eagles, white-tailed deer and most recently river otters.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife says there were some 500 confirmed sightings annually between 2019 to 2021 in the state.
Wildlife officials say sightings are rare as bobcats tend to stray from humans and typically nocturnal moving in the wild between dusk and dawn.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Bobcats returning to Cuyahoga Valley National Park; sightings confirmed
Reporting by Craig Webb, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
