Bobcat closeup.

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A male 8-month-old bobcat kitten found near Portland has been living at the High Desert Museum since October and soon the public will be able to periodically visit him. 

While the baby bobcat still does not have a name, visitors to the museum will soon get to meet him in the museum atrium across from the permanent Spirit of the West exhibit, the High Desert Museum said in a release Friday. 

The kitten arrived at the museum in October and weighed less than 3 pounds. The cat was found by people near Portland who took him from the wild and brought him to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Fish and wildlife officials returned the kitten to where he was found with the hope that his mother would return. Animals like bobcats will often leave their young for a period of time to eat, and then return later, fish and wildlife officials said. Six days later, another person brought the kitten back, and at this time it is unknown if the kitten was an orphan or was separated from its parents.  

Fish and wildlife officials determined it was unsafe to return the kitten to the wild and he was brought to the High Desert Museum . 

The kitten now weighs 15 1/2 pounds and is thriving at the museum, according to museum officials. It will take a year for him to grow to his full size of 20-25 pounds. The bobcat feasts on birds and small mammals and the museum is doing its best to mimic a natural diet of rats, mice, rabbit, quail and other animals. 

“The best thing to do when discovering baby or injured wildlife is leave the animal there and contact the local ODFW office to report it,” said museum curator of wildlife Jon Nelson. “The best outcome is always to locate the mother so the animal can be raised and live in the wild, but ODFW is well-equipped to determine if the animal is legitimately abandoned or otherwise requires long-term human care.”

In the coming weeks visitors to the museum will periodically get to meet the bobcat in the atrium where Gert the gray fox lives, however they will not be placed in the atrium at the same time. The museum encourages people to come and learn about the High Desert’s wildlife. 

“Caring for young wildlife is work that requires total dedication, and once again our wildlife team has risen to the challenge to give the bobcat the best possible home,” said museum executive director Dana Whitelaw, Ph.D. “Although not generally a danger to humans, bobcats are also not housecats. Our team is working with him daily to ensure he will thrive here.”

The opportunity to name the kitten will be auctioned off on Aug. 26 at the High Desert Rendezvous annual fundraiser, the release said.