Roanoke – Three orphaned bobcat kittens that arrived from different litters across southwest Virginia are healthy, playful and being prepared for a return to the wild, the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center in Roanoke said Thursday.
The center said the kittens have been responding well to rehabilitation and were recently moved into the facility’s bobcat enclosure, where viewers can watch them on a live camera through WSLS.com. Wildlife Center Staff have added infrared lighting to improve nighttime viewing of the mostly nocturnal animals.
“The bobcats are doing great. They have probably tripled, not quadrupled in size at this point. They’re eating the equivalent of one whole chicken a day … but they’re doing wonderful,” said Chester Leonard, Executive director of the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center. “We’ve actually moved them out to our bobcat enclosure so everyone can look at the WSLS Skycam and watch them.”
The center will care for the kittens through the winter, with an expected release in spring 2026. The nonprofit estimates the cost of caring for all three will exceed $25,000 and is seeking donations to help cover expenses.
You can watch the bobcat kittens in real time through the https://www.wsls.com/watchlive/
The non-profit relies on community donations to make rescues like these possible. Donations can be made here.
Additionally the nonprofits largest fundraiser of the year, the “Night Owl on the Town” Charity Gala at Hotel Roanoke is coming up September 27th.
Tickets to the black tie optional event include a plated dinner, music, entertainment, signature cocktails and a chance to see some of the centers ambassador wildlife in person. There is also a live and silent auction with over 200 items that include event tickets, vacation packages, fine jewelry and more.
All proceeds help the SWVA Wildlife Center continue to care for over 2,700 patients annually, including the three bobcat kittens.
July Update:
An elusive creature rarely seen, but most notably heard at dusk in the Blue Ridge Mountains have captured the communities fascination for decades.
Two new bobcat kittens just arrived at the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center in Roanoke, bringing their litter now up to three.
In a 10 News exclusive, we take you behind the scenes to meet the new additions and see what it takes to return them to the wild.
The distinct sound of a baby bobcat is not one often heard at the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center.
Weighing only 521 grams at arrival, a small male bobcat was the first of 2025.
This marks a significant moment, as it has been two years since the center received a kitten. In 2023, the center received two bobcat kittens which were successfully rehabilitated and released as young adults in 2024. The pair was featured on the WSLS 10 Bobcat Cam, allowing the community to watch them grow.
As a permitted volunteer at the center, I had the rare opportunity to film the new kitten during one of its feedings. I also got the opportunity in 2023 with the previous litter.
And then there were three.
Fast forward to today, the bobcat has grown significantly. But now, it’s no longer alone.
“So we have three bobcats currently at the center.” said Katherine McGrath, intern and volunteer coordinator at the center
These three bobcats are among Southwest Virginia’s most elusive predators.
“We have two males and one female, and they’ve all come to us from a variety of different areas and situations,” McGrath said.
The trio will grow up together over the next year at the center in Roanoke as they prepare to return to the wild.
McGrath is their main caretaker.
“We have the one that we know the most of, which is the little boy that we’ve been raising, who was found with his mom by the side of the road,” she explained. His mother was deceased after being hit by a car in Floyd County.
“We have a little girl who’s the most wild. She was found in someone’s backyard, really skinny, and they thought she was a normal cat. So they scooped her up and then realized, that’s not a normal kitten.”
She arrived at the wildlife center on June 20th from Fries, VA in Grayson County. Upon admission she weighed 820 grams and was generally healthy, just hungry and a little dehydrated. The rescuer noted her dog kept sniffing a pile of rocks in their yard and found it wedged in between them. They looked for the mother but given the presence of the dog she probably moved on.
Despite the challenges of caring for the wild female, McGrath said, “She’s our wild gal,” and added that staff actually prefer to see this wild behavior.
The newest bobcat to join the litter was unfortunately kept for a week before his finders saw a news segment about the center and knew where to bring him.
He arrived on June 29th from Wytheville, VA. Upon admission he weighed 1.7 kg. Sadly, the mother was hit by a vehicle and died.
“The rescuer kept her illegally for a full week before a friend of hers reported the illegal activity to us and was finally brought in,” said Center Executive Director Chester Leonard.
He is now slowly being introduced to the others.
Caring for three bobcat kittens is no easy task.
“It’s... a little difficult,” McGrath laughed.
“Introducing the males to each other and then to the female, we have to be sure that goes well,” she said. “They can get a little rowdy and feisty. You might have a bobcat coming at your knee if you’re trying to feed them. But it’s fun to see them coming out of their scared shell and doing those natural behaviors and being bobcats.”
Though sad circumstances brought them to the center, their chances of survival are better now that they’re together.
“We’re getting a perfect balance of bobcat with them,” McGrath said.
Cost of Care exceeds $25k
Three times the kittens also means three times the cost. All three kittens are now past the bottle feeding stage and are fed meat like chicken, quail and rabbits.
Rabbits cost the center $23 each. Each bobcat can eat one rabbit a day, bringing the total cost to feed the bobcats at $69 a day on that diet.
"Or if we’re doing quail, that’s about 15 bucks per bobcat for the amount of quail. And that’s per day. So overall, since we’re keeping them till spring, it’s about $25,000 for their care to try to get them the meats that they need. Three times the fun, three times the expense," said McGrath.
As they grow, each bobcat will be able to eat an entire chicken a day.
Leonard said total cost of care is likely to exceed the $25,000 estimate.
But, it’s worth it. Caring for these kittens is a cause center staff and volunteers are passionate about.
“So with bobcats especially, with any large predator in Virginia, we’ve unfortunately hunted most of them to extinction. So the wolf, the red wolf, the gray wolf used to live here naturally. Cougars used to life here naturally, those are all large predators we’ve driven out and they haven’t come back yet. And so our last few large predators are our coyotes and our bobcats. And even then, our bobcats are in decline. So being able to take these three that wouldn’t have made it, we have a female and two males, that’s perfect! That’s a little breeding population. They’re unrelated to each other. We can get them out and have them be predators and have balance our ecosystem that we don’t have right now."
The non-profit relies on community donations to make rescues like these possible. Donations can be made here.
Once the kittens are older, they will be moved to an outdoor enclosure where the community can watch him through the WSLS 10 Southwest Virginia Wildlife Cam here.
The camera currently features a Canada goose patient the center is rehabilitating.