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The Cougar Fund is 501(c)3 non-profit
EIN: 31-1796418
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Jackson, WY 83001
Photography & Video by Thomas D. Mangelsen and Wild Nature Media.
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Can a mesocarnivore fill in the functional role of an apex predator?
/in ResearchAs keystone species, apex predators play a role in structuring most ecosystems through competition and facilitation, thereby affecting community structure, prey abundance and behavior, vegetation, and abiotic processes.
Mountain Lions matter
/in Research, NewsThe University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign recently published a study that compounds previous evidence of the positive role large carnivores, such as cougars, have on the landscape. Known as a keystone species, just like in architecture, lions’ presence or absence ‘holds up’ or ‘destabilizes’ the rest of a structure. In nature it is other species-both flora […]
Our message in a nutshell!
/in News, ResearchThe Cougar Fund was started 22 years ago by visionaries, Tom Mangelsen and Cara Blessley Lowe. They had been inspired by the extraordinary experience of being able to witness a female mountain lion and her three kittens. Upon realizing how little people really knew about lions they turned that inspiration into action. Tom and Cara […]
Research Finds Cougars Avoid Humans even in Urban Settings
/in Research, Newshttps://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2022/01/southern-californias-mountain-lions-typically-avoid-residential-areas A recent mountain lion study in California highlights the big cats’ avoidance of urban and residential areas. Even though the Santa Monica Mountains cougars in the study lived in close proximity to Los Angeles, they only ventured into urban areas about 1% of the time. The study also found that they stayed much closer […]
Storytelling at its best.
/in Research, News, Blog, Links“Heart of a Lion” by Will Stolzenburg The value of storytelling can never be underestimated. Stories are the purveyors of history, vehicles by which facts are disseminated, and the wings that let imagination soar. Our earliest communication, whether as a culture or as individual human babies, comes through the magic of stories. We learn of feats and failures, adoration […]
It is always encouraging when decision makers respond positively to our appeals.
/in Research, News, PolicyThanks to Governor Inslee for listening to the plea of advocates. He has made a decision that inspires respect for you, and in turn, respect for the process of the great state your represent. We hope that future season setting will be based upon the sound science that flows from Washington’s Academic Institutions and from WDFW’s very own […]
Very exciting study about how carnivores may self limit
/in Research, News, Links“Hunting and habitat loss now threaten 87% of large carnivores worldwide.” Whenever these words pop out of an article we immediately sit up and take notice. Many biologists have suspected that large carnivores have an extremely complex place in the environment. We already know that predators and prey exist symbiotically, but the research cited in […]
Top carnivores increase their kill rates on prey as a response to human-induced fear
/in ResearchSmith JA, Wang Y, Wilmers CC. (2015) Abstract: The fear induced by predators on their prey is well known to cause behavioural adjustments by prey that can ripple through food webs. Little is known, however, about the analogous impacts of humans as perceived top predators on the foraging behaviour of carnivores. Here, we investigate the […]