Living With Mountain Lions
In light of their fearsome reputation and symbolic role in America's national psyche, it's surprising to learn just how infrequently mountain lions attack people. Just 117 attacks were documented between 1890 and 2005, with a total of 19 deaths. Half of those attacks did, however, occur since 1991, a result of expanding populations among both mountain lions and humans.
To learn more about how mountain lions responded to people, Sweanor and colleagues regularly approached the great cats on foot during their studies, carefully documenting what happened and gathering results for a full ten years. These were ultimately published in a study entitled, with delightful reserve, "Puma responses to close approaches by researchers."
"It was only the females with kittens where we had a threatening response," Sweanor said. "It showed me how tolerant they are, and how there is potential for people and cougars to live alongside each other."
In the photograph above, Sweanor holds a tranquilized mountain lion in New Mexico's San Andres mountains. Do not try this at home!
Image: Linda Sweanor