RJ's “story” began when he was discovered by a truck driver on the side of the road near Los Angeles as a tiny and severely ill kitten. The driver decided to take him home, initially believing that RJ was a domestic kitten. However, it was only later that he realized RJ was actually a bobcat and made the decision to surrender him.
Upon receiving RJ, the animal rescue recognized that he had already experienced too much human contact, which would hinder his ability to survive in the wild if released. He was most likely a captive bred cat. Consequently, they determined that RJ's best future lay in a lifetime home at Lions Tigers & Bears.
LTB was contacted to provide RJ with this permanent sanctuary. However, Bobbi and her LTB Team held some skepticism regarding the trucker's story, as RJ's friendly demeanor towards people and certain physical characteristics did not align with those of a typical local bobcat. This led to speculation that RJ may have been the result of captive breeding, a concerning issue prevalent in the United States. This is another reminder that 99.9% of the time private ownership of wild animals does not work out.
