Montanans know there is quite a rivalry between bobcats and grizzlies on the gridiron, but in the wild, it’s a different story.
Both animals serve as keystone species in the ecosystem.
“Bobcats are pretty important in the state. They help keep a lot of our snowshoe hare and cotton tail populations in check,” said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks State Furbearer Coordinator Nathan Kluge. “They’re pretty fast interesting little critters.”
As for grizzly bears, they’re apex in their environment.
“They’re top of the food chain,” explained FWP Game Management Bureau Chief Brian Wakeling. “Nobody else manages to really do much to prey on them. They certainly influence several prey species that they feed upon. But they’re not a full-time predator, they also eat a lot of vegetation.”
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, prior to 1800, there were an estimated 50,000 grizzly bears in western portions of the United States.
Western expansion in the 1800s saw government-funded bounty programs that aimed to eradicate grizzly bears which were seen as a threat to livestock and settlers. By 1975, the population in the lower 48 states was reduced to 700 to 800 estimated animals.
Grizzly bears have seen a population boom in recent decades thanks to conservation work that began in the 1990s. Estimates by FWP put the modern Montana grizzly population at around 2,000 animals.
Officials have more difficulty getting an exact number of the bobcat population due to their elusive nature. The cats are one of the most widely spread carnivores in North America. The solitary animals are most active at dawn and dusk and travel between two and seven miles while hunting and roaming their territory.
Wakeling and Kluge agree that bobcats and grizzly bears make great mascots for Montana State University and the University of Montana.
“You want something big, dominating, something that is very aggressive and certainly capable of controlling the situation and I think grizzly bears do that very well,” noted Wakeling.
“Bobcats, they can be kind of elusive but tricky and really strategic,” said Kluge. “They’re also very fast and have really sharp claws to fight back.”
There is a big difference between the size of the animals and the mascots you’ll see at Brawl of the Wild. The average male bobcat weighs around 20 to 30 pounds, which makes MSU’s Champ five to six times the size of his animal inspiration. UM’s Monte, on the other hand, is four to five times smaller than an adult grizzly in the wild, with male bears weighing up to 600 pounds.
Officially FWP is not taking sides in the Cat/Griz rivalry, although individual employees may have their preferences.
Montana State and Montana are slated to kick off at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, at Bobcat Stadium. The game will be broadcast on CBS affiliates throughout Montana.
