People, parks, and pumas…and prions

Product Type: Science Feature

Year: 2005

Author(s): Hunter, D

Pages: 3

Suggested Citation: Hunter, D. 2005. People, parks, and pumas…and prions. http://www.fort.usgs.gov//resources/research_briefs/MtnLionPLW.asp.

Abstract

The puma, or mountain lion, ranks as Colorado’s top predator and one of Rocky Mountain National Park’s most charismatic species. For more than a decade park managers have wanted to conduct research on this elusive animal: How many of these big cats live in the park? What do they eat? Is the population stable or declining? Is the park a source of cat immigration into nearby Boulder County? Are there safety concerns that aren’t being addressed? And recently, the question arose to whether these big cats prefer deer that are infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD), a deadly disease spread by malformed proteins called prions. That is, do mountain lions selectively prey on infected deer and act as a natural control to the spread of the disease, a behavior that would support the old theories of natural selection. These are but a few of the questions that will be answered over the coming years as researchers, led by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) and USGS-Fort Collins Science Center (FORT), begin to reveal the ecological story of the Park’s most impressive and least understood resident...