The Puma Project

Wildlife ecologist, and head of the Puma Project, Chris Wilmers, talks about the secret life of pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Using innovative monitoring and tracking approaches, The Puma Project answers questions about how a puma's behavior changes as their habitat becomes increasingly fragmented by the development of roads and houses.

Pumas play key roles in maintaining healthy ecosystems and their recent revival from near extinction have increased the number of human and puma interaction. Human development is now the biggest threat to their existence. The Puma Project's in-depth study has helped developers design with pumas in mind. Thus allowing humans to safely and sustainability share habitat with these great cats. If you missed the sold out talk at the Rio, this is another opportunity to hear the latest updates on the Puma Project. To learn more visit http://santacruzpumas.org/

Chris Wilmers, associate professor of environmental studies UC Santa Cruz, is the founder and lead researcher for the Santa Cruz Puma Project, a project that studies the impacts of habitat fragmentation on puma populations in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Chris attended graduate school at UC Berkeley where he did his dissertation on how the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park impacted scavengers and the ecosystem. This is where he saw his first puma and has been tracking them ever since.

Presented by UC Santa Cruz Arboretum