Genetic studies have shown that today’s North American populations are all very similar, suggesting a population bottleneck contemporaneous with the megafauna extinction of approximately 10,000 years ago during which large North American mammals such as Smilodon went extinct. Cougars subsequently invaded South America three million years ago when the isthmus of Panama formed to connect the two continents. ![]() It is thought that the forebear of the cougar migrated from Asia into North America over the Bering land bridge approximately 8 million years ago, where it evolved into the different cat lineages present today. ![]() Howard Quigley about the status and research implications of the elusive, enigmatic, and unique cougar. It’s the widest-ranging native land animal in the Americas, yet is declining throughout much of its range. ![]() Mountain Lions on the decline in US: ‘We’re running against the clock,’ says big cat expertīy Morgan Erickson-Davis, Published in Īn interview with cougar expert, Howard Quigley “Any interaction with humans, broadly speaking, will likely end up badly for the lion.” Photo By Travis Bartnick. “The closer lions are to people, the more likely they’re going to die,” Winston Vickers, a UC Davis veterinarian said. Then jump down to see an article that appeared in the LA Times in 2011 about the tracking of a mountain lion throughout Southern California only for it to be shot when it invaded a sheep pen near San Diego. Following is an interview with big cat expert, Dr. ![]() Landowners versus The Cougar: Mountain lions, also known as cougars, are seeing their range reduced significantly because of rampant over-development of hillsides and open fields even into the high mountain country, as well as highway corridors without wildlife crossings and destruction of wetland and riparian areas that provide their water and cover in the wilderness.
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