When people talk about living near mountain lions, it’s usually about the threat they pose. But what if these big carnivores are also making us safer?
Having more of these big cats in the neighborhood can translate into fewer car collisions with deer, according to research published today in Current Biology.
“Living alongside large carnivores isn’t simply about protecting wildlife; it’s about protecting the many ways they quietly benefit us every day,” said ecologist Mark Elbroch, who was involved in the new study and heads mountain lion research for the conservation group Panthera.
The findings in some ways resemble the more widely known story of how wolves helped revive Yellowstone vegetation by driving down elk populations that had spiraled out of control due to a lack of predators. The actions of one species can ripple through an ecosystem, sometimes in unexpected ways. In the case of mountain lions in Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula, add the unnatural automobile to the equation.
The discovery of this phenomenon emerged from years of work by native tribes of the peninsula to track deer and mountain lion populations. The research involved scientists from the Lower Elwha Klallam, Skokomish, Quinault, Makah and Port Gamble S’Klallam tribes. Wildlife cameras placed at more than 500 locations, combined with GPS-equipped collars on 59 mountain lions, provided a detailed picture of where the cats and their prey were spending time.
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