BEND, OR -- The High Desert Museum’s new bobcat finally has a name. “Timber” arrived at the museum just over a year ago after state wildlife officials found him in the Portland area separated from his mother. Despite efforts to reunite the family, the cub gravitated toward people and could not be returned to the wild.

Previous Coverage: Bobcat Kitten Makes Himself At Home At High Desert Museum

Timber has appeared in public since April, in a habitat across from the Spirit of the West exhibition. His name was chosen by a raffle winner at the museum’s annual High Desert Rendezvous fundraiser in late August.

“Timber is smart and took quickly to training and working with wildlife staff,” Curator of Wildlife Jon Nelson said in a statement. “He also enjoys visitors and at times can be seen playing with people through the viewing glass of his habitat.” In the wild, bobcats eat a wide range of prey including birds and small mammals. Timber enjoys meals of rats, mice, rabbit, quail and other whole-animal foods at the Museum.

Photograph from June 2023 taken by Abbott Schindler, courtesy of the High Desert Museum