Fish & Wildlife Proposed Rule Changes
Bobcat proposed rule changes
In March 2024, the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation (SEA 241-2024) directing the Indiana DNR, by July 1, 2025, to have rules in place for bobcat harvest. The Natural Resources Commission gave preliminary adoption to the proposed rule changes at their meeting on Sept. 17 and has opened a second public comment period for the proposed changes to allow the limited, regulated trapping of bobcats.
The proposed changes in 312 IAC 9-3-18.1 set forth a bobcat trapping season in 40 counties in southern Indiana that includes a bag limit of one bobcat per trapper and a season quota of 250 bobcats.
Proposed changes include allowing bobcats and their parts that are legally acquired to be able to be sold under 312 IAC 9-2-3. This would include their hides as well as other parts.
The proposed changes in 312 IAC 9-3-9 would allow bobcats that are found dead to be kept by people with a permit.
The proposed changes to 312 IAC 9-3-18.4 remove the additional requirements for documentation for bobcats since they would be able to be legally harvested in Indiana under the proposal in 312 IAC 9-3-18.1.
The department is also requesting to add bobcats to the list of species for which a game breeder’s license is required in 312 IAC 9-10-4, as well as clarify application requirements and make other changes to conform with the Indiana Rule Drafting Manual.
Additional changes are also proposed to 312 IAC 9-10-12 governing the Fur Buyer’s license to clarify application requirements and remove requirements that bobcats be obtained from outside Indiana.
Public comments can be submitted to the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) at www.IN.gov/nrc/rules/rulemaking-docket by clicking on “Submit Comments Here” in the Rulemaking Docket for the Proposed Bobcat Amendments.
Comments can also be sent by regular mail to:
Natural Resources Commission – Division of Hearings
Indiana Government Center North
100 North Senate Avenue – Room N103
Indianapolis, IN 46204
The deadline for submitting public comments is Jan. 16. The second public hearing is on Thursday, Jan. 16, at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, Scott Hall, 250 Fairgrounds Street; Franklin, IN 46131, from 5:30-8 p.m. ET on Jan. 16. You can attend in person or online anytime during that timeframe. The public hearing will also be webcast live on the NRC’s rulemaking docket website at www.IN.gov/nrc/rules/rulemaking-docket/ during the time of the public hearing, and comments will also be able to be made live through the online webcast. Sign up for updates at on.IN.gov/dfw-rule-changes.
Please note that comments received during the first comment period will be included with comments received during this second comment period. Multiple comments given by the same person will only be counted as one comment by that person. All public comments are part of the official record and will be included in the hearing officer’s report for review and consideration by the NRC.
Once the public comment period has ended and public hearings have been conducted, the NRC will vote on final adoption of any proposed rule changes. The changes must also be approved by the Attorney General’s Office and Governor’s Office before taking effect.
- More information on bobcat trapping season proposed rule changes
The bobcat population has expanded during the last two decades, and the department is confident the population in the southern part of the state is sufficient to withstand a regulated harvest. Incidental takings have increased, with more than 130 mortalities reported annually since 2010, and the population continues to expand. There is an increase in the number of bobcats accidentally taken. Additionally, the number of landowners requesting a permit to take bobcats that are killing livestock and poultry increased from 14 in 2018 to 28 in 2023.
Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin currently have seasons to take bobcats. Additionally, the counties listed in the proposed permanent rule changes to be open for taking bobcats by trapping are the counties where the habitat analysis done by Purdue University shows good coverage of quality habitats that can support a healthy, self-sustaining bobcat population and coincides with regular documentation of bobcats in department records. The department is proposing to have an open bobcat season only in those counties where there is a healthy, reproductive population with habitats shown to be able to support the growing bobcat population. There are counties that have suitable habitats, but fewer documented bobcats. The department considers the counties where there are fewer documented bobcats to be emerging bobcat populations; therefore, the department is not currently proposing to open additional counties to trapping.
Figure 1 below shows all documented bobcats since 1970, including captures, trail cameras, roadkill, and public reports of bobcats that are confirmed from the Large Mammal Report (2015–2020) and confirmed or credible on the Report-A-Mammal website through March of 2024.
The Indiana DNR has several ways it understands and tracks bobcat populations from survey and research efforts. The public assists the department’s understanding of expanding bobcat populations into new counties by reporting bobcat sightings. Beginning in 2015, the online Large Mammal Report collected reports of bobcat sightings. The reports are reviewed by department staff and marked as “confirmed” or “unconfirmed”. Reports are confirmed by photographic or video evidence. Credible reports typically have details in the descriptions to support reliable identification.
The Archer’s Index is a population trend survey the department uses to monitor relative change in certain wildlife populations. Volunteer bowhunters sign up in advance and report the hours, the county, and each species observed while hunting during the October and early November archery season. The survey began in 1992. Average bobcat observations on the Archer’s Index have increased four times over the last thirty (30) years.
The department also has research from bobcats that were collared and tracked by capturing them in traps in the state during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Collaring occurred in the southern part of the state, primarily in Daviess, Greene, Lawrence, and Martin counties. Multiple aspects of bobcat life history were collected, including information about survival and mortality. That research found that Seventy-five percent of adult bobcats survive from one year to the next, and 95% of bobcats less than 2 years of age survived from one year to the next.
From this data, Purdue University also determined bobcat habitat selection and home range size from the collared bobcats. Adult, female bobcats need approximately 9 square miles to successfully raise their young. Male bobcats are not monogamous and do not pair with one female bobcat mate, so male bobcat home ranges typically overlap multiple female bobcat habitats and were an estimated 91 square miles. The home range numbers are representative of the time beginning in the early 2000s and ending in the mid-2000s when populations in the southern part of the state were still emerging and growing in many areas. The numbers are likely to shift as bobcat populations and densities change.
From this habitat and home range research, Purdue University developed a bobcat population model for the department. The population model simulates the life histories of bobcats and allows to department to determine a sustainable harvest level for bobcats in Indiana. The population model is conservative and assumes adult female bobcats do not raise young in habitats less than 9 square miles. The population model also assumes existing mortality sources remain at the same level and harvest mortality is added to those mortalities. This conservative model setup ensures the department can be confident that harvest levels are sustainable.
Movement of sick, injured, and orphaned deer in a Chronic Wasting Disease Positive Area & Release of deer by wildlife rehabilitators
In April 2024, the first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) was detected in an Indiana deer. As a result, the Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) is proposing to reduce the movement of deer that may be infected with and carry this disease to another location in the state. The Natural Resources Commission
gave preliminary adoption to the proposed rule changes at their meeting on Sept. 17.
The DFW is proposing to limit the movement of fawns to individuals who hold wild animal rehabilitation permits in the CWD positive areas, as well as restrict the area where an individual who holds a wild animal rehabilitation permit may release a deer. The intent of the proposed change is to reduce human-assisted movement of CWD prions out of the infected area in potentially infected deer. Moving a fawn from an infected area to a rehabilitation facility outside of the CWD positive area could lead to the introduction of CWD to a new area of the state, which would cause more deer to die from CWD. Due to the desire to avoid the suffering of injured or abandoned fawns, fawns may continue to be rehabilitated if they are not moved outside of the CWD positive area.
The public comment period for this rule proposal has ended. The NRC will vote on final adoption of the proposed rule changes at its meeting in January of 2025; the agenda will be posted at www.in.gov/nrc/meetings-and-minutes/. The changes must also be approved by the Attorney General’s Office and Governor’s Office before taking effect.
- More Information about the proposed change regarding orphaned and injured deer and the release of deer by wildlife rehabilitators
CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer. It is a member of a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases. Other similar prion diseases in this group include mad cow disease and scrapie in sheep. CWD is spread through bodily fluids like feces, saliva, blood, or urine and is transmitted through direct contact or indirect contact through environmental contamination of soil, plants, food, or water. CWD can infect captive-bred deer and elk as well as wild deer. There is no cure for CWD, and no known treatment exists to prevent deer from getting or spreading CWD. The only test to confirm whether a deer is infected with CWD requires samples from the deer’s adrenal glands after the deer is killed. It is not currently possible to test live deer.
A fawn can be infected by the fawn’s mother, either through direct transmission before birth or soon after birth through the normal feeding and caring for the fawn. Fawns do not test positive until the fawn is alive and infected for at least six months. Therefore, it is not possible to determine if a fawn is infected with CWD at birth. A fawn that is infected with CWD that is raised with other fawns can infect the other fawns, and, if released into an area where CWD is not present, can then infect other deer for up to two and one half years after becoming infected, which spreads the disease to a new area.
Proposed in the rule package is a new rule defining a “chronic wasting disease positive area” in 312 IAC 9-1-5.2. Since it is likely that CWD may spread to other areas, the division wants to ensure that the CWD positive area includes not only a location where it has been confirmed, but also where it may likely occur based on the model. The CWD positive area is currently in LaGrange, Steuben, Dekalb, and Noble counties.
Also proposed is a definition of “non-releasable” in 312 IAC 9-1-11.2. This definition has been moved from 312 IAC 9-10-9 governing wild animal rehabilitation permits to the definitions section.
A new rule is proposed to be added in 312 IAC 9-2-17 to require sick, injured, or orphaned deer found in a CWD positive area to be given only to a permitted wildlife rehabilitator in that same county or to a wildlife rehabilitator in a CWD positive area.
Amendments have also been proposed to 312 IAC 9-10-9(q)(5) governing the wild animal rehabilitation permit to require that rehabilitators release deer obtained from a CWD positive area in a CWD positive area and if they reside in a CWD positive area, to release it within a CWD positive area. Additional technical and confirming changes have been made to the rule to meet the Indiana Rule Drafting Manual and conform to current practice and department administration needs. First, the proposed rule changes specify the requirements for the application in rule, including providing a copy of the applicant’s driver’s license or identification card, name and address, and the address where wild animals will be housed for rehabilitation, if the address is different from the applicant’s address. The changes also clarify the exam requirements for those who have held a wild animal rehabilitation permit for more than 10 years and have taken care of more than 12 wild animals. Additionally, the proposed rule adds a statement that provides the department with the ability to limit the number of wild animals a permit holder can possess if they do not meet the requirements set forth in the rule language. Finally, while the proposed rule was changed due to an outbreak of CWD, the department wishes to use the permanent rulemaking process to update the rule according to the current practices of the department as well as incorporate technical and drafting changes.
