Once nearly extinct in New Jersey—and still endangered here—bobcats are trying to regain a foothold in our local fields and forests. But habitat loss and forest fragmentation continue to challenge their small population, disconnecting them from their historic range and pushing them more frequently into busy roadways.

Shy, elusive bobcats help keep rodent populations in balance and are a last vestige of true wildness in our state. The Nature Conservancy is working hard to give them a chance to survive.

With support of wildlife lovers like you, we have made great progress in establishing Bobcat Alley, a corridor spanning New Jersey’s two great mountain ranges: the Appalachians and the Highlands. We have already protected more than 800 acres in just two years in this region, and we have scientists on the ground studying how bobcats move through the landscape to identify ways to improve high-use road crossings.

Land in New Jersey comes at a premium, though, and we have thousands more acres to go to make a real difference for our iconic bobcats. Only with your help can we “build” Bobcat Alley and give these wild cats the space they need to roam, raise kittens and flourish.