Mountain lions are not only magnificent creatures—​they play
​an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. ​

Ecological Benefits

Research by Dr. Mark Elbroch, lead scientist for Panthera’s Puma Puma Program, shows that mountain lions benefit ecological communities by increasing biodiversity and resilience on the landscapes they inhabit. In fact, mountain lions provide a disproportionately large amount of food to their ecological communities compared with other top carnivores. This food is an important resource for many species including birds and mammals that feed on the carcasses of prey killed by mountain lions, many of them while the mountain lion is itself still feeding! 

This food sharing spreads nutrients through the ecosystem and strengthens communities, providing protection and resilience. Nutrients from carcasses enrich soils and plant communities, creating hotspots that become the places where animals such as  elk and deer will more frequently forage, and where hundreds of different carrion-dependent invertebrates commune, mate and raise their young. 
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Mountain lions also were found to facilitate access to carrion for smaller carnivores, which would otherwise be blocked by bobcats and coyotes. This buffers competition among other carnivores and increases the potential for co-existence between red foxes and coyotes, among others.

​Mountain lion kills are critical as they sustain foxes during the winter when they are likely to lose access to other food sources. Their kills also provides vital support for migratory eagles and other migratory birds along historic migration corridors. Because mountain lion’s kills become sustenance for an abundance of other species, they are essentially enhancing and increasing the local foodwebs—and thus strengthening the resilience of local ecological communities.​

Panthera's Teton Cougar Project

Panthera's Teton Cougar Project has been conducting research on cougars in this rugged mountain landscape since 2000. By placing motion-triggered cameras at cougar dens, feeding sites, and other hidden locations, biologists with Panthera's Teton Cougar Project have made fascinating discoveries about the social bonds between cougars and the behaviors passed down from one generation to the next.

​Young kittens learn rapidly from interactions with their mother and siblings, exhibiting behaviors like stalking and caching from an early age. The obvious affection between family members—displayed through vocalizations, physical contact, and other cues—persists until kittens disperse as subadults. Importantly, mothers teach their kittens that social interactions conducted around food differ radically from those occurring at dens or day beds. Family meals are sometimes even shared with other adult cougars.
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This research has also unveiled the rare and remarkable occurrence of adoption in cougars, where adult females take on orphaned kittens that would otherwise perish. As our understanding of cougar behavior continues to grow, so too can our ability to co-exist with these amazing and complex animals.

Dr. Mark Elboch released recent findings from his research in his article "Solitary Is Not Asocial: Social Interactions among Mountain Lions." His research revealed that 60 percent of documented mountain lion interactions occurred over food. "And contrary to everything we read about mountain lions, kittens were present at 60% of Female-Female and Male-Female interactions at kill sites. Courtship interactions were less common. We even documented three adult pumas feeding together on 5 occasions, and as many as 9 pumas at a kill, including youngsters."

Credit BW Pics - Mark Elbroch

We should learn to appreciate cougars for the beautiful creatures they are, for the structuring role they play in nature, and we should strive to learn to live with harmoniously with them.
​                                                                   - Maurice Hornocker, wildlife biologist