Bobcat Kitten Spotted Roaming UCR Botanic Gardens

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA) — There was something wild at the UCR Botanic Gardens this week, but it wasn't the flora or fauna.

A bobcat kitten was spotted exploring the gardens this week, walking carefully over leaves and branches as it approached a staffer who was recording video of the wildcat.

"Walk softly and you might see our newest additions to the Gardens!" UCR's Botanic Gardens officials wrote in a Facebook post.

The kitten had been roaming the garden with a sibling and its mother this week, but are believed to have already been moved to a safer area, probably with fewer humans. Gardens Director Jodie Holt said adult bobcats are known to roam the grounds and neighboring areas, but generally don't interact with people, so the sighting was "rare" and "remarkable."

UCR's Botanic Gardens is made up of 40 hilly acres in the foothills of the Box Springs Mountains, east of the campus, so staffers say it's pretty common to see wildlife – including snakes, coyotes, mountain lions and, of course, bobcats.