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2019 Winter Mountain Lion Project Report

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2019 Winter Mountain Lion Project Report

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2019 Winter Mountain Lion Project Report

June 13, 2019

Joshua Lisbon shares a report on results from cougar tracking and identification efforts from 2012 to 2019.

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Winter Mountain Lion Project Report

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Each winter season, we get a glimpse into the lives of the cougars that use MPG and the surrounding lands. Over the past several years we have learned enough to begin to tell their stories

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Each season we improve our methods, our data collection, and thus our results. Trackers continue to collect more viable samples each year..

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The winter mountain lion population survey began in December 2012 with the first hair sample of individual F4.

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Dispersing males and deceased individuals make up a significant portion of the 28 individuals that we identified.

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We believe that MPG supports 3 primary females and 1 dominant male with home ranges that overlap on the ranch property

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This work helps us understand how cougars use the landscape, where they prefer to be, and how they establish and maintain travel corridors.

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The map above shows the scat and hair samples collected this past season. Crews collected 202 samples that the Rocky Mountain Research Station is now analyzing.

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This family group was first identified in the 2013-2014 season and consisted of F3 (the mother), and F1 and F2 (siblings).

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This family group is anchored by F5, a female who is not related to any other individuals in the study area.

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During the winter of 2015-2016, F2 raised her first kitten. Following the loss of her family group, F2 relocated deep into Davis Creek.

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In the summer of 2016, F2 bred with M13 and gave birth to a litter of 4 kittens (F16, F17, F18, F19) in late fall.

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In the summer of 2016-2017, F4 bred with M13 and gave birth to a litter of 3 kittens (M20, F24, and an unidentified sibling) in late fall.

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In the late summer of 2018, F2 bred with an unknown male and had a litter of 2 kittens, F27 and an unidentified sibling.

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In the summer of 2018, F9 bred with an unknown male and gave birth to M28 later that fall. This is F9’s first litter.

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In the summer of 2018, F9 bred with an unknown male and gave birth to M28 later that fall. This is F9’s first litter.

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We first identified F2 on MPG in January 2014 when she was nearing dispersal age.

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We identified F4 first on the south slope of Baldy Mountain in late December 2012. She was re-sampled in January 2016 and January 2017 after a long lapse in identification.

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We originally identified F9 in the winter of 2015-2016 when she was a kitten with her mother, F2. She is part of family group 3 (M7, F2, F9), but has since dispersed and appears to be hunting successfully on her own.

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In the fall of 2016, F2 gave birth to 4 kittens (F16, F17, F18, and F19). This was F2’s second litter that we know of, and along with M13 as the father, they made up family group 4.

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M20 is the offspring of F4, the oldest female in our study. He, along with F24, his mother F4, and another yet unknown sibling represent family group 5.

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F24 is the offspring of F4, the oldest female in our study. She, along with M20, her mother F4, and another yet unknown sibling represent family group 5.

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M28 is the offspring of F9. This is F9’s first litter. We know very little about this individual and suspect that he may have other siblings.

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M28 is the offspring of F9. This is F9’s first litter. We know very little about this individual and suspect that he may have other siblings.

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We first identified F1 through DNA in December 2013, and then a few weeks later in January 2014.

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We first identified F3 through DNA on the front side of MPG in January 2014. She was re- identified by MTFWP when she was killed a couple of weeks later in February 2014, about 4 miles north as the crow flies and on private land.

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We initially identified F5 between Miller Creek and Woodchuck in December 2014. We re- sampled her in January 2016 near her original location and in December 2016 well north of her original area, but still in Miller Creek.

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We identified M6 only one time in January 2015 along Woodchuck Creek.

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We identified M8 numerous times in January 2016 clustered in an area just east of MPG in Miller Creek.

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We first sampled M7 on December 24, 2015, near Miller Creek Road. He was re-identified 2 days later on December 28, 2015, when a hunter shot him.

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M10 appears to be one of the many transient males who move through MPG on their way to establish a territory elsewhere.

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We identified M11 from a scat sample in February 2016.

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We identified M12 from several scat and hair samples in December 2016 and January 2017.

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We identified M13 only once from a hair sample in December 2016. He was then killed by a hunter a few weeks later well north of our study area.

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We suspect that M14 is another transient male. We identified M14 from several hair samples in December 2016.

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We identified M15 (pictured above) from hair and scat samples in winter 2016-2017.

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In the fall of 2016, F2 gave birth to 4 kittens (F16, F17, F18, and F19).

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We first identified M21 when he scavenged a kill site on the south side of Miller Creek in December 2017.

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We also identified M22 when he scavenged a kill site on the south side of Miller Creek.

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F23 is a bit of a unique case. She is not related to any other females in our study and is possibly the first transient female we have detected.

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We were able to identify F25 as a result of the Bitterroot Winter Eagle Project

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We were also able to identify M26 as a result of the Bitterroot Winter Eagle Project.

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This project is interested in answering the following questions: 1. How do mountain lions use the landscape? 2. How many individual cougars use MPG and the surrounding lands? 3. How are these individuals related?

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Trackers followed non-invasive sampling protocols, backtracked lions, and collected hair and scat samples opportunistically from snags, kill sites or beds.

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Scat is a reliable source of DNA material. Along with hair samples, it is the primary means of identifying individuals.

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Mountain lions have to eat, and so we periodically discover where they are feeding on deer and elk.

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Tracking crews focused their efforts on the access points on the map below. We worked in teams of 2 for safety and ran 2 crews in the Miller Creek area, and 2 crews in the Woodchuck and Eight Mile area

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Hunting is a management tool used to control mountain lion populations and is regulated by the state. After a history of persecution and indiscriminant killing, cougars are now protected by this system, though they are also managed by it.

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MPG partnered with Inspired Classroom to develop and launch a curriculum project based on the mountain lion study.

Previous Research Report

2018 Winter Mountain Lion Project Report

Next Research Report

Large Family Groups and Resource Sharing - Winter Mountain Lion Project Report

Related Research Reports

Large Family Groups and Resource Sharing - Winter Mountain Lion Project Report

June 2nd, 2020

2018 Winter Mountain Lion Project Report

June 18th, 2018

Related Dispatches

Continued Mountain Lion Resource Sharing

June 3rd, 2021

Winter Tracking Update

February 19th, 2018

By: Tanner Banks

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