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Scientific team studies interaction of cougars with other predators Carnivores in the Northwest have made a comeback JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - Toni Ruth resides in the shadow of one of the more elusive creatures on the planet, following cougars over rugged terrain for miles in Yellowstone National Park. Her goal is to document their eating habits, breeding patterns and relationship with other species in the ecosystem. She works for Hornocker Wildlife Institute in Montana, an agency well known for its cougar research. Her work is not for the idle: In winter, she often hikes 15 miles a day through snow, ice and freezing temperatures to track radio-collared mountain lions. "These are very tight locations so you are working close to the cats and making sure you don't disturb them," she said. This winter Ruth and her two assistants tried unsuccessfully to find all of the 15 radio-collared lions that live in the park. She said at least 21 lions recently left their mothers. Mountain lions were eliminated from the park in the 1930s but have since recovered significantly across the West. Ruth and her crew have a regular schedule: They locate a lion, find its latest kill and revisit the site daily to see how much time the cat spends eating each carcass. They also follow the cat to see how many days it goes without killing prey. The number of kills a lion makes depends on the availability of meat, whether it has kittens and whether coyotes and other scavengers are snatching the carcasses. Research by Ruth's predecessor, Terry Murphy, found that cats generally make a kill once every nine days. This spring a mother of three cubs in the National Elk Refuge was killing an elk every day. Howard Quigley, president of the Hornocker Wildlife Institute, said the Northwest again has a full compliment of carnivores including wolves, lions and bears. The animals' numbers increase opportunities to research how they interact, he said. Ruth wants to learn if the cougar population in Yellowstone will change since the reintroduction of wolves in 1995 and 1996 and how lions and wolves create their boundaries in the park. She has documented cases where wolves have scavenged cougar carcasses. In one case, she confirmed an incident of wolves displacing a cougar at a predation site. Ruth said there probably little competition between the animals for prey because there is plenty of food in the ecosystem. Jackson Hole is home to an estimated 14,000 elk. And there are 12,000 to 14,000 elk in the northern section of Yellowstone National Park. Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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