Rumors that a family of bobcats are lurking on Jekyll Island, one of Georgia's Sea Islands, have been circling ever since the early part of the 20th century.
But a century-old photo of bobcat pelts hanging in a local island cabin, as well as unconfirmed sightings by locals and park rangers, remained the only evidence of the animal.
Not anymore. Motion sensor cameras on the small Southeast island recently captured photographic evidence of the nocturnal predator.
"It's the first definite, confirmed documentation of a bobcat on the island ever," Ben Carswell, conservation director for Jekyll Island, told the Florida Times-Union. "We have no way to be sure whether this animal showed up recently on Jekyll. They're such secretive animals, it could be this one and others have been out here for some time."
Scientists have also confirmed the presence of a bobcat track. Researchers are now going to try to ascertain whether there are other specimens present on the island.
"Let's say there's actually two of them, a male and a female, then obviously we're going to get more bobcats here down the road," said David Egan, a local wildlife advocate. "But if it's a lone bobcat, it won't have much impact."