Marley, the bobcat who served as the ambassador of his species at the Randall Oaks Zoo in West Dundee for nearly 12 years, died this week, zoo manager Sara Peters said.
“He suffered from a seizure disorder that was putting a toll on his body. He was just really struggling,” said Peters, noting that while the 14-year-old cat had been on medication, the last couple of years had been rough.
Dundee Township Park District zookeepers monitored his quality of life and consulted with a veterinarian before determining it was better for him to be humanely euthanized.
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“We have a quantitative method of monitoring toward the end of any of their lives. His just started to decrease,” Peters said. “It was his time.”
Marley’s last day was special.
“His keepers gave him his rabbit, chicken livers and all his favorite foods. We gave him a bunch of playthings. He loved his litter box, and so we gave him a huge litter box,” Peters said.
He was “pretty temperamental. He was definitely a male bobcat. His favorite thing was to ‘mark’ his trainers … he liked peeing on his handler,” she said.
While he was “very tolerant of people,” only his keepers were allowed to pet him and he was kept behind fencing or barriers, Peters said.
It’s not common for a community zoo to have a bobcat so they considered themselves lucky to have him, she said. Named after musician Bob Marley, the cat was transferred to the zoo from a rehabilitation center in Wisconsin.
“He fit into our North American area, where we could show people we have these animals in the area,” Peters said.
Marley, who was often part of the zoo’s marketing materials, helped educate thousands of guests about wildlife native to the area and the challenges facing wild bobcat populations, Peters said.
Because the biggest danger they face are hunters, some of whom seek them out for their fur, a bobcat’s life expectancy in the wild is two to three years, she said. In captivity, the big cats can live 15 to 20 years.
“There were some regulations as far as the number of permits issued (for hunting bobcats) and things like that, but unfortunately that went away,” Peters said.
Another challenge is the loss of habitat, she said. Bobcats like to roam in smaller, wooded areas, she said. When those areas are developed, it’s hard for them to find a new area to live, she said.
Bobcats are big climbers who like to ambush their prey, Peters said. However, they don’t attack humans. “They will see you before you know they are there,” she said. “They like to stay away from humans.”
A bobcat can weigh up to 40 pounds and has “eye spots” on the back of their ears to defend themselves from predators coming up behind them, Peters said.
Right now the zoo isn’t looking for a new bobcat to replace Marley as its North American enclosures are being renovated and the zoo is shuffling animals around, she said.
Plus, they gets their animals from rehabilitation centers or independent rehabbers so it’s hard to know when another bobcat might become available, she said.
Marley’s loss has been hard on zoo staff, Peters said, and many people have left social media posts offering condolences and sharing photos and stories of the cat.
“It’s been a few rough days. It’s definitely hard seeing that empty cage,” she said. “He was just such a pretty boy. There’s definitely a missing piece here now that he’s gone.”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.