She lay leisurely, outstretched along a sturdy limb of a budding aspen. It was the time of day and season when life emerged from frigid nights and years of drought.
Sophie, my Australian shepherd protectress, first took notice with a short bark. The wild animal with multiple names; puma, cougar, panther, catamount, painter, rested motionless less than 30 yards away.
The rarest of encounters, my long-held wish to see a mountain lion (Puma concolor) in the wild was granted. As I caught my breath, what I saw was a sumptuous beauty and exquisite, natural grace. What I felt was power.
The regal cat telegraphed dominance. Even in her relaxed pose, draped and mostly hidden, she reigned supreme. Depending on their locality, a mountain lion’s range can vary from 10 to 370 square miles. I had the impression she was familiar with this undisturbed haunt. Had she been here before?
The lion’s tawny cinnamon-hued coat, still thick from winter growth, impressed me. So did her size. Other than Mexico’s jaguars, which on average are heavier, mountain lions are North America’s largest wild cat. An adult mountain lion can weigh 75-200 pounds and is 6-7 feet long from head to tail.
I noticed how her tail casually twitched as she watched me from a safe distance. Good sprinters, mountain lions can reach speeds of 50 mph and easily leap 18 feet.
An apex predator, these lions are not prey to any other species besides humans. Their diet is comprised of deer, elk and small mammals. Mothers with kittens consume the most prey and research has shown they average about 41 deer per year.
Where I stood in the doorway of an outbuilding and the ghost cat sat camouflaged in a tree, we eyed each other harmlessly, unthreatened. No sign of aggression, lunging or bluffing marred our early summer encounter.
Finally, the mountain lion decided to move on. In an effortless leap she landed ever so quietly 20 feet below her perch. Then I watched as this solitary wild animal stepped languidly into the shadows and cover of a deeper forest.
Dr. Kirk Robinson, director of Western Wildlife Conservancy, a Utah 501(c)3 non-profit, has dedicated years studying mountain lion behavior, monitoring the state’s policies and advocating for science-based wildlife management.
A recent headline in a local online news site, “Utah’s mountain lion population on the rise: What hikers should know,” grabbed Robinson’s attention. Utah’s mountain lion population is not “steadily increasing” as claimed.
Robinson studied a diagram he had prepared on Utah’s mountain lion population and mortality rates (available on Robinson’s website) that charts totals for mountain lion mortality in Utah’s annual sport hunt and (alleged) livestock depredation from 1990 to 2023. Based on his analysis, the headline and narrative are at best misleading.
In fact, their numbers are in decline. According to Robinson, here’s why: Data indicates a corollary from when Utah began increased hunting with declines in mountain lion populations.
“While it is possible that there are more juveniles and subadults than normal,” he said, “it would be because the mature males have been decimated. The No. 1 natural cause of mountain lion mortality are mountain lions, specifically mature males with a home range. They kill young interlopers and will kill kittens they did not sire. Also, these younger animals are transients. As a rule, they have not established home ranges, which means that they more frequently wander into the urban-wild land interface than those who do have home ranges.”
Robinson’s non-profit organization is in litigation with the state of Utah in a dispute over H.B. 469 passed by the Legislature in 2023. His group argues Utah violates a 2020 amendment to the Utah Constitution known as the Right to Hunt and Fish Act.
The law requires “reasonable rules and regulations” for managing wildlife that promotes the conservation of wildlife. Robinson contends that H.B. 469 does away with reasonable rules and regulations for mountain lion management by mandating a year- round season with no limit on take.
According to Jackson Hole’s Cougar Fund, founded in 2001 by writer Cara Blessley Lowe and photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen, there are many factors negatively impacting mountain lion populations, their prey and habitat. Chief among them are traditional management policies by Utah and other state game agencies that may include mountain lion kill-quotas, sanctioned trapping and sport hunting.
Harmful wildlife policies and outdated belief systems are often coupled with a dismissal of serious science.
In light of these realities, I am grateful for the determined efforts by individuals and conservation organizations to scientifically study, educate and act on behalf of a languid mountain lion and our surviving wildlife.
Leslie Miller is the co-editor of “Reimagining A Place for the Wild” and a former, long-time resident of Park City who now lives in Midway.