Male mountain lions can weigh more than lbs and attain lengths of 8 feet. Females are smaller, staying at around lbs and reaching 6 feet in length. In Yellowstone the average weight is lbs. A mountain lion is generally a solitary animal and can stake out a home range of up to square miles.
Currently, the lion population is estimated to be animals. The Yellowstone mountain lions reside throughout the park during the summer, but can be found most often in the northern range of the park where prey is available year-round.
They stalk mostly elk and deer and porcupine, but will usually take what opportunity provides. Constant screening of cougars for Y. About 3, cougars are killed legally in the U.
Three of the cougars in the study died of the plague in , only two years before a teenage Boy Scout caught the same disease in the same region. Per the Wyoming News , the Scout made a full recovery. But in , Colorado mountain lion researcher Eric York contracted the plague during a necropsy and died of the infection.
Theresa Machemer is a freelance writer based in Washington DC. The project has also established a remote camera survey network throughout northern Yellowstone to aid in population estimation. These field methods—coupled with camera detection data from recognizable GPS-collared cougars and future snow tracking and genetic surveys—will continue to provide periodic population estimates for Yellowstone.
Scientists traveled deep into the park to investigate. And that journey? Listen to the Telemetry podcast. By capturing and fitting individual cougars with satellite GPS collars each winter, project staff are able to identify and search hundreds of clustered cougar locations annually to detect prey remains.
In addition, cougars prey on pronghorn, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and smaller mammals like marmots, red foxes, and coyotes. I see where birds or something pecked at blood in the snow. Dan Stahler: Lot of tracks. Clicking in real nice on the telemetry now.
Something dramatic went on here. Dan Stahler: Wow. Holy smokes. Hey might be WAY down in here guys. Dan Stahler: Uh this is a pretty…well… grunting …a little spelunking! Narrator: Twenty feet under the earth, tracking a bloody cat, Dan and Nathat started to piece together a story of what might have happened to M Nathan Varley talking to Dan : Did he get pinned in there by a bigger cat? Nathan Varley: Lions are lions. You know they crunch the skull… Nathan Varley: Oh wow.
Dan Stahler: …when they kill each other. Dan Stahler: Well, you know, he has an accelerometer collar. So we can look at the activity.
We can look at the movements We might even see signs of a chase taking place somewhere else once we get the data back from it. Dan Stahler: Yeah, like, what are the energetics of a cougar fight? Narrator: OK this is where the idea of the cougar FitBit really comes in. Scientists can use the information from accelerometer collars to understand a lot more about animal behavior and energetics — basically, how much energy it takes for an animal to live its life. This is pretty cutting edge stuff.
Dan Stahler: So, our ability to study carnivores like cougars is changing all the time. These collars have built in accelerometers that continuously measure the 3-D axis--the neck position--of the cat wearing the collar.
Calories burned. This is the basis of energetics. Dan says they will be able to link the data from the captive cougars to the wild cougars in Yellowstone. And biologists in the park have these same collars on wolves. Dan Stahler: …so we can compare the energetics of a stalking carnivore that lives mostly by itself — the cougar — compared to a group-living carnivore that chases after its prey — the wolf — and can see different patterns in their energetics that may have been shaped through evolution, might be shaped by current environmental conditions Narrator: Understanding how these animals respond to environmental conditions, how they survive…what they eat…where they go…how they affect each other and their prey… All of this goes beyond just understanding cougars or wolves.
So these collars have opened up that world in a much more accurate way. Narrator: And because they want to interfere with the lives of wild cougars as little as possible, Dan and Colby only fit a couple of cats with those collars. The cat. Dan Stahler: That pisses me off…. I hate leaving here without this cat and knowing the end of this story. Colby Anton: beacon. Dan Stahler: Pffft…Another typical day in wildlife biology.
Narrator: I think most scientists will tell you that dealing with frustration and overcoming setbacks is something scientists get comfortable with pretty quickly. In fact Dan tells me that a few days later, they were back in that boulder field. Sighs Here he is. Damn it. So, here I am down in the lions den with He is dead. Blood all over him. He must have been beat up pretty good to come down here like that. Hard to loose a cat like that.
Narrator: M the very first Yellowstone cougar to contribute accelerometer data to the study. And this has implications for big cat research worldwide. Narrator: Back in his office, Dan talked about the death of M The necropsy revealed the cat was indeed killed by another cougar. Narrator off mic: And he was your first… Dan Stahler: It was very discouraging. But at the same time, you know, you appreciate the wildness of Yellowstone and the lives these animals live … …There are relatively few places where you can understand how all these carnivores coexist, compete, interact, and what those impacts may be on prey, scavengers or each other… Narrator: And you know, Yellowstone is pretty special that way.
Dan says that ecologically, this is great news because carnivores like cougars have a critical role to play. Dan Stahler: Cougars, like other top carnivores through the act of predation, which is a powerful ecological force, they have the capacity to shape and structure ecosystems. Narrator: But from a human-dimensions standpoint, things are still a little thorny when it comes to these top predators. Dan Stahler: If you look at carnivores in particular they have a long history of persecution… Narrator off mic: Where do you think that comes from?
Dan Stahler: We have a long evolutionary history with carnivores. If you raise livestock, carnivores can be a threat to your way of life.
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