Science Sunday: Masters of Concealment: Cougar Ecology in America’s First National Park

In honor of Earth Day, we take a special look at our country’s first national park.

How do you study an animal that is rarely heard or seen? What does it take to track down one of the most elusive species in some of America’s harshest winter environments? For many years, biologists in Yellowstone National Park have been searching the backcountry for signs of wild cougars. Like most predators in western North America, cougars suffered widespread population declines following intensive predator eradication in the early 1900s. Between 1904 and 1925 it’s reported that government trappers and hunters successfully dispatched over 120 cougars within Yellowstone National Park’s boundaries. Despite this, cougars persisted due to their secretive behavior and the inaccessibility of the vast wilderness in the Yellowstone area.

Speaker: Colby Anton, UC Santa Cruz