#Big mountain lion drivers

As wolves returned to the area, they drove elk herds out of the mountains to lowlands, inaccessible to mountain lions. Starvation became a big problem for the big cats. This puts them in direct competition with each other.Р”Р„pparently, nobody is more aware of this than the animals themselves. Wolves and mountain lions are both large carnivores that prey upon large animals like elk and deer.

#Big mountain lion drivers

Three theories for the decline were considered, but nobody knew exactly which was the main culprit: human hunting, a lack of prey, and wolves.Р”В®lbrochРІР‚в„ўs study concludes that wolves are the largest drivers of mountain lion populations in the areas where the two predators have overlapping territories. Over the course of 15 years, the mountain lion populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Wyoming dropped byР’В 48 percent. In three months, all three mountain lion kittens were dead, and another three in the same territory were also dead-all of them killed by wolves. ThatРІР‚в„ўs when the Lava Mountain Wolf Pack, the largest in the western states, moved into the territory. Carnivore biologist Mark Elbroch has collected research that shows mountain lions have more to fear from wolves than any other animal, including people.Р”В®lbroch was studying a mountain lion and her three cubs in the Teton Range in 2014. ItРІР‚в„ўs a tale of two predators, as new research suggests Wyoming wolves have immense impacts on mountain lion populations, causing a 48% decline in 15 years.Р”Р„ccording to Smithsonian Magazine, a recent study in Wyoming shows a new and tragic dynamic between two large predators.