Students hunt for mountain lion information

Students at Front Range Community College work with the Rocky Mountain Conservancy to study mountain lions.

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Some mountain lions descending to the Plains

A photograph of a mountain lion recently helped verify that the animals may be returning to Kansas.

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'Ghostly' Saharan cheetah filmed in Niger, Africa

Conservationists are excited about a photo of a Saharan cheetah, as perhaps less than 10 survive in the deserts of Termit, Niger. Very little is known about the Saharan cheetah, but it can endure extremely high temperatures almost entirely without a permanent source of water. They have a paler spot pattern than is common in other subspecies of cheetah.

The photo was taken as part of the Saharan Carnivore Project, by the Saharan Conservation Fund (SCF) Saharan cheetahs are considered native to Algeria, Togo, Niger, Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso.

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Tigers and Polar Bears, Leopards and Lions Vulnerable to Environmental Change

A new study by Durham University and the Zoological Society of London has determined that the impact of environmental change on large predators such as Canadian lynx, leopards, lions, and tigers is 5 to 6 times greater than that on smaller species because they have to work so hard to find their next meal.

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Mountain lions straying into more urban areas

Michael Macor / The Chronicle

A mountain lion equipped with a transmitter on her collar is among the subjects being studied by animal behavior researchers in Santa Cruz.


A cougar sighting in Berkley, CA has given rise to concern about the large predators moving into urban areas, but wildlife biologist Rich Hopkins suggests there are ways for humans to safely coexist with its wild neighbor.

Hopkins explains that humans are a far greater danger to cougars than they are to humans. The chance of getting attacked by a cougar is 1000 times less than the chance of getting struck by lightning. Due to California's dense population, relocating cougars is not practical, but without more funding, the Department of Fish and Game cannot manage chasing the cougars back to their local habitat, leaving the response to cougar sightings to police. Zara McDonald of the Felidae Conservation Fund points out that police have to react quickly, without training. This may mean that police may be more likely to shoot the animal.

Conservationists are concerned that human sprawl could cut off the corridors that cougar use for travel, isolating populations of cougars and encouraging inbreeding, possibly causing the cougar to go the way of the bear and wolf, which are already gone to the Bay Area. This leaves the cougar as the last large predator to maintain the balance of the area's ecosystem.

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