Mountain Lions: Beyond the Myth

On November 13th, Dan Collins, from Cohort 2 and a Volunteer Interpretive Ranger at Saguaro National Park West, gave a presentation titled Mountain Lions: Beyond the Myth. Misunderstood, maligned, and nearly extirpated by American settlers, the mountain lion remains shrouded in myth and mystery, and faces ongoing challenges to its survival.  In his enlightening and entertaining presentation, Dan exposed the folklore and explored the facts surrounding this elusive but essential apex predator.

In addition, during his presentation, Dan shared a map provided to him by the Arizona Game and Fish Dept. showing the home ranges of 3 collared mountain lions under study, and mentioned that a male mountain lion’s home range in the Sonoran Desert could cover 300 to 400 square miles. Since that time, he then came across another map (see below) showing the travels of another male puma under study. This cat’s travels covered some 600 square miles in 8 months, including the Picacho, Tortolita, Santa Catalina and Black mountain ranges.

Unfortunately, this puma was injured during capture, and had to be euthanized. Dan mentioned that “capture and collar” studies are not only expensive, but can be dangerous for both the puma and researchers. Much safer and cheaper are wildlife camera, tracking and scat sample studies, and much can be learned from them also.

Written and Submitted by Dan Collins