An emaciated bobcat suspected of attacking hikers was captured on a trail in Fairfax and quarantined at a wildlife hospital.

Marin Humane said the cat was caught in the Cascade Canyon Open Space Preserve, a county park southwest of Fairfax. The animal is not suspected of carrying rabies and is at WildCare in San Rafael for treatment.

“Fortunately, nobody was severely harmed in this case, and we were able to coordinate a response quickly,” said Nancy McKenney, CEO of Marin Humane.

The 20-pound cat is suspected to be a year old or younger, said Alison Hermance, spokeswoman for WildCare.

The cat is “really, really skinny and covered in fleas and ticks,” Hermance said.

“The prognosis is guarded, based on how emaciated she is,” she said. “We hope she’ll recover.”

Hermance said wildlife specialists are unaware of any positive cases of rabies in bobcats in Marin in the past.

Rabies is commonly found in bats, raccoons, skunks, fox and coyotes, Hermance said. “However, any warm-blooded mammal can carry rabies, so the health department needs to be conscious of that.”

The cat is under a 10-day quarantine as a precaution, she said. If the animal recuperates, it will be up to the Marin County Public Health Department to determine whether it can be released, Hermance said.

Dr. Matt Willis, the county’s public health officer, said the health department did recommend that a victim of one of the attacks get a post-exposure prophylaxis shot that would neutralize the rabies virus if it was contracted.

However, the risk of an infectious disease contracted from a bobcat is rare, Willis said.

“We worry about rabies from bats and skunks; we’re not so concerned with rabies from bobcats,” Willis said. “Out of an abundance of caution, we recommended that the patient get the shot.”

Willis said the only way to fully verify rabies is to perform a test that would require the animal to be euthanized.

“In this case, the risk is so low that it wouldn’t be justified,” he said.

The bobcat is linked to two reported attacks, McKenney said.

The first incident occurred on June 8 when the bobcat attacked a couple and bit and scratched a woman on the ankle and leg. The couple used a walking stick to fend it off, and the cat bit and ate the end of the stick, according to wildlife officials.

In the second attack, on Thursday, the bobcat lunged at a couple and bit the heel of one of the hikers, McKenney said. The couple reported that the animal “was acting odd” and had an “emaciated, strange and scruffy look.”

The cat was captured on Saturday.

McKenney said in one of the instances, Marin Humane learned of the attack from a health care provider. McKenney said the attacks serve as a reminder to residents to report encounters with wildlife, especially when animals seem ill or injured.

“We’d rather have more information than not,” McKenney said.

McKenney also warned that people should not feed or approach wildlife while enjoying nature.

“We don’t want them acclimating to people; we don’t want them coming up to people,” she said.

Residents can report encounters with sick, injured, dead or rabies-suspected wildlife at 415-883-4621.