Montana wildlife officials have reduced quotas for bobcat hunting and trapping across a broad swath of central and northern Montana.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners on Thursday approved a proposal to lower the quota in three regions of the state by a combined 190 animals.

The move came after agency officials said they'd seen a drop in bobcat numbers in those areas. The decline is considered a cyclical population shift, but wildlife officials have said they don't want to exacerbate the drop through hunting and trapping.

The bobcat quota was reduced from 200 to 100 in central and northern Montana's Region 4. The quota in south-central Montana's Region 5 has dropped from 250 to 200, and northeastern Montana's Region 6 dropped from 90 to 50.

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