Urbanization and anticoagulant poisons promote immune dysfunction in bobcats

This study combined toxicology, gene-expression and immune profiling to show that bobcats exposed to anticoagulant rodenticides in urban southern California exhibited altered immune function, providing a mechanistic link between poison exposure and disease susceptibility. Animals with higher exposure showed changes consistent with immune dysregulation, helping explain why rodenticide-exposed bobcats so often succumbed to notoedric mange. By demonstrating physiological effects beyond acute hemorrhage, the work expanded understanding of how sublethal contaminant burdens undermine wild felid health. It strengthened the evidence base connecting a routine human pest-control practice to immune compromise in an urban carnivore, informing both veterinary insight and regulatory debate.