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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

Bobcat Hunting Passes Through Illinois Legislature

Flickr user / docentjoyce "Bobcat - Lynx rufus" (CC BY 2.0)

Illinois hunters may soon be able to kill bobcats.

The legislature barely passed the proposal Sunday.

Bill sponsor Rep. Patrick Verschoore, D-Rock Island, had to postpone the vote because it didn't have enough support. But it passed the second time around with the minimum number of required votes.

Verschoore says it's an important bill to manage the bobcat population.

"They're becoming a nuisance in the southern part of the state,” Verschoore said. “They're killing. There was an instance where here just recently they killed several kid goats at a farm."

Animal rights activists say the bobcat population is still fragile after being taken off the threatened species list.

Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, strongly opposed the legislation.

"I believe that studying the population to see if there is a legitimate reason to do this would have been a better course of action," Feigenholtz said.

Supporters of the measure say bobcats kill livestock and pets. They say allowing people to hunt them won't hurt the bobcat population.

Opponents say that, while bobcats were taken off the threatened species list, it's too soon to allow hunters to kill them -- especially since they are seen as a trophy animal and aren't hunted for food. 

Lisa Ryan is a graduate student in the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield. She previously worked at Indiana Public Radio and the college radio station founded by David Letterman. She is a 2014 broadcast journalism and political science graduate of Ball State University.
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