New Evidence Shows How American Big Cats are Reversing 100 Years of Decline
American mountain lions, or cougars, are remerging in areas of the
United States, reversing 100 years of decline. The evidence, published
in The Journal of Wildlife Management, raises new conservation
questions, such as how humans can live alongside the returning predators.
“The cougar population declined dramatically from 1900, due to both
hunting, and a lack of prey, leaving the remaining population isolated
to the American west,” said Michelle LaRue from the University of
Minnesota. “Here we present the hard evidence that the western
population has spread, with cougar populations re-establishing across
the Midwest.”
Three main cougar populations exist in the Midwest centered around The
Black Hills in South Dakota, however, cougars are venturing far outside
of this range. One male cougar from the Black Hills was found to have
traveled 2,900 kilometers through Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York,
before ending up in Connecticut.
“While the distance the Connecticut cougar traveled was rare, we found
that cougars are roaming long distances and are moving back into
portions of their historical range across the Midwest ”, said LaRue.
“Our study took in over 3,200,000 Km² of territory, confirming the
presence of Cougars from Texas, Arkansas and Nebraska, to the Canadian
provinces of Ontario and Manitoba.”
Working alongside scientists from Southern Illinois University
Carbondale and The Cougar Network, LaRue and Principal Investigator Dr.
Clay Nielsen analyzed cougar sightings which have been reported since
the 1990’s to characterize confirmed sightings over time, assess habitat
suitability and confirm where cougar populations are being
re-established.
Aside from confirmed sightings, the team’s evidence included carcasses,
tracks, photos, video, DNA evidence and cases of attacks on livestock
across 14 states and provinces of North America. Only sightings which
were verified by wildlife professionals were included, while sightings
of animals known to be released from captivity were excluded to ensure
only natural repopulation was analyzed.
The results reveal 178 cougar confirmations in the Midwest with the
number of confirmations steadily increasing between 1990 and 2008.
Approximately 62% of confirmed sightings took place within 20km of
habitat that would be considered suitable for cougar populations.
When cougar carcasses were recovered 76% were found to be male. As the
Connecticut example shows, males are capable of traveling long distances
and this finding suggests males are leading a stepping-stone dispersal
of the cougar population.
“This evidence helps to confirm that cougars are re-colonizing their
historical range and reveals that sightings have increased over the past
two decades,” concluded LaRue. “The question now is how the public will
respond after living without large carnivores for a century. We believe
public awareness campaigns and conservation strategies are required
across these states, such as the Mountain Lion response plans already in
place in Nebraska and Missouri.”
This research was conducted in partnership with Southern Illinois
University Carbondale (http://www.wildlife.siuc.edu
) and The Cougar Network: http://www.cougarnet.org/
