Bobcat found on Pittsburgh boat released into wild, but questions remain

PITTSBURGH — A furry stowaway on a popular Pittsburgh sightseeing vessel captured the area's imagination on Sunday.

The bobcat found on The Empress has been released back into the wild, but questions remain about where it came from and how it got on the Gateway Clipper boat.

"My crew called me and said, 'We've got a bobcat on the Empress this morning.' I said, 'What?!'" said Terry Wirginis, president and owner of the Gateway Clipper fleet.

Related: Bobcat captured aboard Gateway Clipper vessel on Mon River

The bobcat made its way up to the third deck of the boat and when animal control got there, they actually found him wedged in between a sign where there's only about 10 inches of space.

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"So there it was! And there we've got three-hundred people here on the docking area getting ready to board the boat," Wirginis said.

This all happened about an hour before hundreds of families and kids boarded the 'Empress' for the Paw Patrol cruise, scheduled to sail Sunday morning.

"Not sure if he was looking to figure out a way to get across the river or something along those lines," said Dan Puhala, Pennsylvania State Game Warden.

After being captured, the 18-pound healthy male spent the night at the Animal Rescue Wildlife Center in Verona.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission picked him up this morning and released him in Game Land 187 in Luzerne County.

"They're not very happy to see people," Puhala said. "They really don't want much to do with you and that cat couldn't get away from me fast enough."

Related: Carcass of strange sea creature washes up on beach

According to the Game Commission, since the story aired, they've received a lot of calls with concern about wild animals like bobcats.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission estimates there are more than 4600 bobcats in Pennsylvania and it's not uncommon to see them relatively close to places where people live.

RESOURCE LINK: If you're interested in reading more about bobcats, CLICK HERE.

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