Take Action: Senate Bill 2143 is currently moving to the Senate floor where it can be voted on any day now. Call your state senator today and let them know that Senate Bill 2143 interferes with the scientific management of wildlife in Illinois, and is an attack on Illinois hunters and trappers. Ask your senator to support the conservation needs of all wildlife in Illinois by allowing the state’s professional biologists to manage bobcats. Click here to locate contact information for your senator.
On April 7, the Illinois Senate Commerce and Economic Development committee passed Senate Bill 2143, which prevents the hunting and trapping of bobcats in Illinois. This move comes less than a year after Gov. Bruce Rauner signed HB 352 into law, which paved the way for the first bobcat season since the 1970s to take place this fall.
According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, there are an estimated 5,000 bobcats living in the state, and from 2000-09, the population of the species grew from 2,000 to 3,200 bobcats in just the southern one-third of the state. During the 2016-17 season there will only be 500 harvest permits issued.
“This bill ignores the facts about bobcats in Illinois, and the wildlife conservation success that has made the hunting season necessary,” said Luke Houghton, Sportsmen’s Alliance associated director of state services. “It substitutes politics for sound science, and prevents adequate population controls that balance the needs of the public and other wildlife species.”
Because of the expertise of state wildlife experts, and the conservation funds from hunting and trapping licenses, bobcats have recovered in many regions of the country. The population increase will continue to grow unchecked without a management plan in place to control the spread of this species. In response, animal-rights groups and activists are using legislation like SB 2143 to block hunting and trapping seasons that will help to manage their numbers.
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance is a 501 (c) 4 organization that protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 organization that supports the same mission through public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online,Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.