The Curious Case of Zion's Missing Mountain Lions
Mountain Lions have been missing from Zion Canyon since the 1940s. Attractions like Angel's Landing, the Narrows, and the Great White Throne draw millions of visitors each year to Zion National Park, but that popularity also comes at a cost to Zion's mountain lions.
Mountain lions are solitary creatures, and the hustle and bustle of Zion Canyon has driven them to more remote areas of the park. The ecological consequences of this removal have been catastrophic. After Zion's mountain lions retreated to the backcountry, the mule deer population exploded and quickly decimated the Virgin River's streamside vegetation.
But in those areas where mountain lions still roamed, scientists not only found streams that were healthy, but they found ecosystems that were thriving. It's a familiar story of large predator ecology - remove them and the greater ecosystem suffers. Zion's mountain lions are simply the latest in a long line of stories about what happens when you remove the very animal that keeps an ecosystem together.
The story of Zion's missing mountain lions is the final installment in my series about predators in National Parks. If you'd like to check out the first 2 videos, about Yellowstone's Wolf Reintroduction and Isle Royale's Wolf/Moose relationships, you can check those out below.
Isle Royale Wolves: • The Fascinating Ecolog...
Yellowstone Wolf Reintroduction: • How Wolves Brought Yel...
Stay tuned for more stories about parks and protected areas!
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Your channel has so much potential. Don’t give up and keep it going 👍
Thanks so much! These videos are blast for me to make and I'm really glad people are enjoying them. I'm not planning to stop any time soon!
Maybe this bloke should learn how to at the very least pronounce the name of the park he has decided to document?
Sorry about noticing but is this a computer voice? Zion is a single silable not two as sometimes was said Zi-on. It's subtle but as a utahn it grates
Maybe say it zien or zin with long i
I've always pronounced it like 'lion'. I'm not sure where people are getting the "zy-awn" pronunciation.
I got stalked by a lion in northern Utah and it was absolute hell.. walked a few miles from my car in the rain while fishing a canyon and as I began the walk back I quickly saw there was fresh mountain lion prints in the mud directly waking over my own footprints where I had walked in.. that long walk back to the car was so intense. Come to find out, the cat had tracked me from about 30 yards from my vehicle for the entire day and had been following behind me just out of sight the entire time I was fishing.. I never saw the cat, and I never even heard a branch snap.. it definitely made me think twice about being alone in cougar country, especially considering I never carried a firearm or any weapon for that matter.. having your place on the food chain challenged is beyond a humbling experience lol
good thing he wasn't hungry that day - glad your ok!
That's pretty crazy, but if you never saw or heard him, how did you know it was so close and following you for the entire day?
@Gabby Gabs I've only seen a Mt lion once in the wild and it was sunning itself on a rock at Palo duro canyon in the Texas panhandle. Thing wasn't stalking me just sitting there. Didn't give two shits I was there. I hear people all the time saying they found cougar prints but it is much more likely that they are bobcat prints which are quite common in my area. If you have to ask if they are cougar prints, they aren't. They have absolutely massive paws and can't be mistaken for anything else.
City people don’t understand that you can be literally surrounded by mountains lions all the time and never see one, they’re extremely evolved predators and if they view you as either a threat or potentially prey, they won’t let you see them. Also mountain lion vs dog or bobcat claws are very easy to identify. ALL canine tracts have claw marks and bobcat tracts are much smaller with their toes close together. While mountain lion tracts are broad large with spread out toes due to their large size, Theres no mistaking mountain lion tracts for bobcats or especially dogs ffs🤦♂️
@@Bolt99K I spend a ton of time in the mountains of Wyoming and have only seen them a handful of times. Mostly crossing the road at night, but did come across one two days in a row while elk hunting once. It was in it's bedding area and I would see it while hiking out mid morning after the elk had bedded.
Beautiful park but one of my worst national park experiences. Went in mid October and had to ride the bus, get off at a trailhead with dozens of others and then parade through the park. I’m sure that if you get into the backcountry it would be a better experience. I spend 60+ days per year in the Smoky’s, our most visited park, and can do 15-20 mile hikes and not see a person. It’s all about knowing where and when to go.
I lived in Southern Utah for years, and can confirm that the backcountry in Zion can be an amazing and uncrowded experience (have hiked the Narrows 4 times now). I've also almost hit a mountain lion on I-15 early one morning at Black Ridge just south of Zion's Kolob Canyons. It slinked (only way to describe it's movement) over the dividing barrier right after I passed it, and was headed east towards the park boundary. I was about the size of a Mule Dear!
Agreed. The Zion backcountry is spectacular. Get out there if you can.
I only go weekdays in the winter anymore. I'm glad I got to see it in peak season when it's the most colorful but I can't do the theme park kind of crowds anymore. The backcountry is nice since there are limited permits. I did The Subway most recently and it's a top 10 all time hike for me. I hope to do the Narrows top down this year. If I find myself up there during the busy season I'd opt for Kolob Canyon (exit 40 on the I-15), which gets much less traffic than the main park.
The main canyon is amazing, but crowding can definitely ruin the experience. Tough that one of the prettiest places is so compact.
Thats where you fucked up. Should have drove there early morning instead of following the tourists
I ran into a mountain lion a few years ago in the Kolob Canyon part of the park that most people don't visit. On the La Verkin Creek trail, specifically. We startled each other coming around a corner. It could not have be less interested in me, and it just walked off trail before I could remember any of the "make yourself look big and talk loudly" stuff I was taught. After my initial fear wore off, I felt lucky to have seen one in the wild and make eye contact with such an elusive animal. A once in a lifetime experience.
They are only a problem when you run into one with cubs. Cool you got to see one!
Making eye contact is probly not a good move. To most animals that’s a challenge
@@user-vh7ki7xu7o not too much with ambush hunters, mostly canines/primates/ large herbivores
@@user-vh7ki7xu7o eye contact is recommended if you need to try to scare of a mountain lion. It’s threatening to them, And they prefer to attack from the back so it can put them off
Bro how f*cking silent where you that a puma somehow did not hear you coming? They never show themselves to humand and practically make sure we almost never see them.Are you a ninja?
We have had Mountain Lions moving into our area, but we rarely see them. I had my best sighting every just a block from my home observing a HUGE cat. That explains why the deer stay up in their herds and no longer wander around the golf course. The fires East of us brought in a lot of Mtn. Lions - they sometimes appear in back yard cameras. We are in Arizona in the Superstitions.
Very cool, I live in Kansas and have heard stories some from people I trust that they have been spotted around my area.
The story is that if they live among you you'll almost NEVER see them, but they will certainly have seen you!!! There's not much to fear from Mtn.Lions, because they keep to themselves, but you'll tend to see them at dusk or early mornings - they are nocturnal. The one I saw nearby was in daylight - that's unusual and in a wild area surrounded by houses.
@@dennishassler605 I've seen one in California about 10 years ago, came into our apartment complex (we lived right on the edge of the city right next to mountain wilderness). But yeah despite little coloration they have one of the best natural camouflage based on the foliage around them, you could probably be looking at one and not even know it.
It's rare to see mnt loins ,.....you can live your whole life In mnt lion country and never see one The fact is most sightings ate in the early morning or at dusk is because they can see great in the dark and we can't they see us like it's day light and hide while we need a light just to see where to put our feet
I've seen one driving in Mexico and it looked very fluid crossing the hwy. in front of my car - I knew what it was but it gave the appearance of a huge snake crossing the road - it was heading to a village to maybe snag a goat somewhere. Yes, the one a block from my home gave me a nasty look, but was an amazing and HUGE cougar. It's muceles were moving under the fur and I noitced it had no nose as it turned it's white face toward me - glad it was walking away from me and my two dogs. I love animals. Today I saw a Scarlot Flycather - all bright red with black wings - it migratory and lives in South America and Mexico, etc., so love to see one of nature's wonders.
I’ve been to Zion 3 times but live in NC. I highly recommend getting there as soon as the park opens. I hiked angels landing and made it to the top at 8 am. I drove in the night to do it and it was so worth it. Less than / Two dozen people on the hike and a dozen on the top. It was so serene. Now you need permits.
Having done Angels Landing before the permit system I'm all for it. The sketchy part isn't the chains, its getting down while the entire state of Utah is trying to come up.
@@MrDoctorCrow yes i agree. I didn’t like going back down the chain section. Still one of the coolest day hikes I’ve ever done and I’ve completed hundreds in 34 National Parks and dozens of National monuments.
I have never been to that park but too many people can ruin a good thing! What a beautiful place!
I was fishing in the lower Boston mountains ( Arkansas ) when a mountain lion walked across the stream approximately 50 yards away. AGFC is finally admitting that there is a breeding population in Arkansas!
I lived right outside Zion for most of last year. Really wish I was able to see a mountain lion since I am a photographer. I’ve seen a ton of tracks on multiple trails/hikes in Kolob Canyon and up Kolob Terrace road. But never got lucky enough to see an actual cougar.
There is a similar problem happening on Anticosti Island, in eastern Canada; Basically, about one or two hundred years ago, some british elite sought to make the island an amazing (aka literally like shooting fish in a barrel) hunting location for deer by importing some unto the island as to create a self-sustaining population, but this has consequences that live on to this day, such as: The island deer population tend to be malnourished (but have huge antlers) due to the vegetation being far more coniferous than their normal mainland diet which in turn is harder to digest, the competition with natives mooses are driving them out of which was one of their prime habitat (if you're knowledgeable about white tailed deer, you'd already be aware they tend to be the main vector of infection for brain worms, which eventually kill off any cervidae population living alongside whitetails) and lack of varying population make it so there is an unhealthy level of incest going on and no natural predation unto the island itself (Island is too far away from mainland for wolves to hop onto, hence why it was almost solely inhabited by mooses beforehand). The sad part is that absolutely nothing will ever be done to rectify the situation because one of the island main source of revenue is hunting safari, and given the current ecological situation is favoring huge quantities of deers that will destabilize the ecosystem in the long term due to no predation and competition, and a lack of interest due to the aforementioned population greatly helping in the successes of hunts, we're basically sitting on a slowly ticking timebomb we know will explode right in our faces but wont ever have anything done to stop it because an handful of peoples are making banks from the unnatural conditions. And then cherry on top in the end is they'll have the audacity to claim the reason mooses and deer and the whole island ecology is collapsing is due to global warming!
Wow, love how detailed this is! It really makes us want to up our research game on our videos!! Glad we came across your channel from Iz Harris’ comment section, we also recently started a channel and love connecting with other people that are on a similar journey to us- keep up the great work 💛😁
Thanks so much! I'm always trying to balance being detailed and thorough while still telling a story that I think people will be able to understand, so I'm glad you enjoyed it! I also like connecting with other small/new channels - it can be difficult at times, but also very rewarding, and knowing there are others going through something similar definitely helps. Any tips/words of advice? Best of luck!
As a hunter, this will never cease to infuriate me. We're literally playing the role of wolves, bears and mountain lions in regions where the apex predators have been removed and the eco system can no longer maintain equilibrium. It's unfortunate, because I've always admired these creatures, and while I wouldn't want to end up in a confrontation with one, I'd love to see one in its intended environment.
We're not even that effective as apex predators in our own habitat; if you bring predators into places where there are people, human lives (not nessesarily livestock lives) are saved by how much better constant predation threats keep deer off of roads.
cougars even kill wild horses better than us, where we let them
i got to see one in action, attacked a fawn, mother deer attacked mountain lion with its front hooves while screaming, was amazing, fawn got away. I took off after it noticed me as i only had bear spray and a hunting knife.
Ya. Get off the sofa. I spend 200 days a year in the woods. Predator numbers are insanely high. While you're at the screen, google california stone sheep,nevada stone sheep, everglades white tail deer, isle royale wolf/moose. I could go on and on big hunter.
You're missing the point dummy there's too many humans especially thespecially the fucking mormons that have complete litters of up to 12 kids we need to eliminate humans do the planet of favor and start hunting mormons......
Man, keep going, felt very good watching your videos.
Thank you! Glad you're enjoying them!
It would be interesting see one on exotic pythons destroying the Everglades for over 20 years because of irresponsible owners.
there’s is a bunch of documentaries and hunting episodes on that
The FWC has been corrupted by the chemical cartel. They have been outragiously funded to spray all of the aquatic plants they can. The manatee are starving to death, the waters have putrified and become hypoxic. Dead Zones are escalating into slime algae and are horrible smelling with dead fish now. Pythons are over rated and just hype.
also it is not entirely at fault of irresponsible owners. a breeding facility was hit in the 90s by a hurricane and let thousands of snakes into the everglades. those snakes then grew and reproduced hence the problem we have. people releasing snakes added to the problem, but not as much as you think.
@@jacobdanner5800 but they were breeding them to sell them. to owners
@@persebra really? I had no idea. Obviously but that doesnt instantaneously make every owner an irresponsible one. If you wanna know an invasive animal problem truly caused by ignorant and irresponsible owners look at feral cats and dogs
Reminds me of that one time where a great ape species lost all its natural predators and then destroyed half the world when its population exploded.
Hahaha. Excellent point.
Well hopefully those apes that are enlightened stop breeding.
right?
Those dam orangutans
Yeah your mamas family story is messed up
binge watching your videos, they're really good. Would you cover the failure to make Point Reyes a national park?
Thank you! Point Reyes technically is part of the National Park System, just as a National Seashore instead of a National Park. But yes, I want to do a video on Point Reyes at some point. Thanks for your suggestion!
@@NationalParkDiaries Point Reyes Bird Observatory has one of the longest running studies of migration in the world. Folks there (Peter Pyle especially) wrote the bird bander's Bible, which all banders in North America use.
This was a fantastic series. I learned a lot, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
Very interesting. I knew well the wolves in Yellowstone story, but was sadly unaware of this one. Since I love both parks this is a story I needed to know. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for watching! This is one of those trophic cascades that's less well covered than the Yellowstone wolves, but every bit as important imo!
Another excellent presentation. Thanks!
Thank you!
Visited Zions last summer. I will never go there again. The line of people coming out of the Narrows was over a mile long. I hate to say goodbye to a park I have hiked in my whole life, but like most natural wonders…its being ruined by people. Mountain lions know when to call it quits. So sad.
Your channel needs more attention and the things you talk about need more awareness. Love the content, keep it up
Thanks, I appreciate the support!
Very well done!
Thank you!
This is a really good video :)
Thank you so much!
Some national parks really need to implement daily permit restrictions for visitors.
I'm going to go farther and say some of them should straight up make the parks more hostile to tourists. Im talking removing paved roads and replacing them with gravel and restricting most of the park to foot and bike traffic only.
Lazy car drivers deserve to be forced to walk or bike.
@@holben27 and in turn for doing that park goers, small business owners, and workers who will surely lose their jobs as demand for their services go down will protest and their representatives will become hostile to the National Park Service, cutting their budget and potentially causing an end to the offending parks protections altogether unless a state legislature decides to take over from the USNPS through a land exchange.
@@holben27 Go live there
Great video!
Thank you! I think this is still my favorite video I've made 😂
Great content. 👍 I spent the last few days hanging with Black Bears on a Refuge I frequent.
Thanks! Sounds like a ton of fun - where is the refuge?
@@NationalParkDiaries Eastern NC, home to the World's largest black bear and the rare Red Wolf.
@@chrsmdws1 Alligator River? That's awesome. I've actually been wanting to make a video about the Red Wolves there, just waiting for the right time.
@@NationalParkDiaries looking forward forward the video. 👍 waiting for this channel to blow up. You put out some great videos.
@@chrsmdws1 Thank you! I'm glad people are liking them, they're a blast to make! I'm really excited for what we're building here.
I've spent years hiking and trout fishing in the foothills and river canyons in northern California. I've seen black bears,coyotes, foxes,a bobcat once and so much other wildlife but still have yet to see a mountain lion even though ca has a good population of them.I've seen their tracks and the leftovers of deer kills but that is all. They are phantoms of the manzanita brush.Also, the national parks are overrated tourist traps. Those remote hard to access places with little to no recognition are my favorite places to go.
Minnesota and the Dakotas lost quite a few big cats and wolves in 2014. The polar vortex froze portions of the Mississippi river and every great lake solid, which allowed animals to expand their range. Then after the melt, they were stuck there. The mountain lion, bobcat and wolf spottings in Wisconsin and Michigan have skyrocketed ever since!
I live in zion ponderosa ranch and resort and just spotted one on my property last month at night on a trail cam. So I always watch my back walking at night.
It's sort of surprising that the cats are gone. They are found very close to San Francisco, even in the city limits from time to time, but often in Pacifica, 10 miles away
I frequently visit zions. I have seen 3 in 25 visits, all to the north of the park, they are highly nocturnal and caught very often on trail cameras…so they are there, and just avoid the noise.
good stuff! I think we should also remember that predators are also scavengers.
Very true, another benefit!
yeah good point! one exception would be, I've heard, the golden eagle, which it is said do not often accept previously dead meals
Cool video bro.
Thanks for watching!
Had a somewhat close encounter with a mountan lion in Zion, not in Zion Caynon but the Kolb canyon region I was the only backpacker on the trail the night of the first snowfall. In the morning I saw a trail of paw prints less than 100 yards from my camp as I was finding a spot to pee. I though that's an awfully large dog before I remembered I was the only person on the trail that night and there was no other human prints anywhere nearby.......
I just went to zion in the winter and went to observation point. You have to technically exit the park and go up to the top of the plateau on the back side then hike back in to the cliff edge. The plateau up there was classis deer and lion country. I saw a nice whitetail buck and a massive mule deer buck.massive! I also found a deer carcass, bones and all it was clearly a lion kill maybe a month old. So I'm sure the lions are still very close by, maybe just not in the canyon with all the tourists.
I doubt you say a whitetail as they are not found in Utah except for a small portion in the norther part of the state. Glad you saw a nice muley on your hike. Observation Point is one of the best views of Zion canyon.
Good analysis
Thank you!
Good video! I'm just curious why you pronounce it like Morpheus. You aren't pronouncing lion that way. Just a gripe. 😁
You’ve gained a new subscriber 🤌🏾 The content is awesome
Thank you and welcome to the channel!
I was in Big Bend in '09, and watched a Lion track my group (with binoculars) from the opposing slope for a while. It's definitely crazy to suddenly realize that you are viable prey.
Zion like all national parks is beautiful but it sucks. They turned these places into Disneyland.
Ive got a big popular national park in my state, beautiful, would love to go. But its packed with tourists in any weather thats semi warm warm. I wouldnt be surprised if i only ever go for 1 day in my life, which might just be driving through...
National park traveling was amazing though in spring/summer of 2020…
They may not be in the valley but we walked a trail just outside the valley a few months ago that seemed like a Cougar super highway.
Beautiful video 10/10
Thanks for watching!
Cougars have been seen increasingly in urban neighborhoods and they're thriving
Americas national parking lots are americas worst idea. Building roads and gift centers into our most beautiful areas instead of keeping them wilderness is gross. Removing one of the greatest natural predators, human hunters, is also ecologically asinine.
Its a concession. In order to provide protections for these areas, which cover huge swaths of the country if you were to add up their entire acreage, the government requires the use of public money. Therefore the areas are public land meaning anyone of the American citizenry is entitled to visit. Had visitations been poor and interest low then the public would exercise their right to pressure their representatives into cutting or fully removing the protected areas. This was a chief concern even as far back as the original National Monuments act.
Look man the National park system is literally made to protect America’s most beautiful areas and the income it brings goes into wildlife conservation and staffing, without it the land would all be privately owned or destroyed by the public with unknowing consequence. By no means is it perfect but without it we wouldn’t have National wide parks to the extent they are today
Human hunters have decimated North American wildlife.
Similar problem in higher elevations in Utah, tremendous mule deer overpopulation in and around Cedar Breaks.
I saw a mountain lion in Bryce Canyon so that is irrefutable evidence that the cougars are just on vacation doing the mighty 5 tour for their Instagram profiles. It’s science, don’t @ me.
Studies have shown that they really hate the sound of us. You can apparently clear out an area of forest just by leaving a talk radio station on. Ive had close encounters here in canada (canmore, alberta next to banff) but have never laid eyes on one. I once had a bear incident and when it was all said and done i heard a roar from the trees behind me. Checking the tracks in the morning confirmed that a big male came down to see what the commotion was.
Any squatch stories?
@@canadianmmaguy7511 No, unfortunately not. Would be cool to see sign or tracks.
@@andrewbrown6522 you'd probably have to go a few kms off the road. Use gps and look for a water source. "Thinkerthunker" on youtube has lots of evidence. "Colorado bigfoot" has a lot of videos of tree structures, 40 foot trees entwined together in the middle of nowhere in untouched timber lol.
@@canadianmmaguy7511 Well the banff canmore area is far too busy for that. Now in the kootenays though and there have been stories not far from here. Im not so much a believer in sasquatch as i am a believer in oral histories of First Nations. Hard to call that many people liars imo.
@@andrewbrown6522 i didn't know about them until about 8 months ago. Rock apes in vietnam are interesting too, why would all those war vets lie. In florida they're called skunk apes Lousiana swamp boogers Missouri the Missouri monster Kentucky wood boogers Ohio grassman Etc
We have a good amount of Mountain Lions in Southern California, lived here my whole life and have only seen them once, i have seen tons of bobcats and black bears, but those Mountain Lions are some elusive creatures
I told a Ranger a couple of weeks later and they said the cougars hunt the Bighorns and will come off the plateau from time to time. It was so cold up top and thank god I had my crampons the ice on that trail was slick in some areas. I had hiking poles too and lots of warm clothing.
I used to reside in Las Vegas and hiked all over the Red Rock Canyon and Mt. Charleston areas for around 15 years. In all those years, I saw one rattlesnake (I went off-trail, so my fault for almost stepping on it), one tarantula on the 13-mile Scenic Drive at Red Rock, and a very small herd of Big Horn Sheep. If you want to tackle a park where the wildlife has vanished, you could probably start there. Now, I live in Central Oregon, near the Sisters volcanoes, and when solo hiking, I always carry. Always. I've been here 2 years and have seen a mountain lion twice. Admittedly, they were running across the 20 heading over the Santiam Pass. That was enough to convince me to open carry. Most people do, not all, but most. Those that don't wish to become lunch, that is.
Please tell me you’ve done a video on the ongoing work and ecological impacts of the Florida wildlife corridor, and the expanding Florida panthers i’ve seen some other videos regarding such. After learning about wildlife overpasses that exist in Canada, one being built in LA in memory of the mountain lion P 22 that lived in Griffith Park, and the Florida wildlife corridor to help the panthers and other wildlife have given me the idea that the US needs an interstate wildlife corridor net work. I see it as necessary to help the southern red wolves in addition to the lessons of the ecosystems the US graces. If certain animals like skunks, raccoons, and coyotes can adapt to human environments, and we try to conserve the ecosystems they come from along with the food webs, there is so much to learn natural ecology, and how to adapt society to such.
I'd love to cover the Florida Wildlife Corridor at some point, as well as wildlife corridors more generally. As our wild places become ever more fragmented, wildlife corridors will only become more valuable for biodiversity preservation. I think this is one of the great infrastructure challenges of the coming decades and it's certainly worthy of much more attention. Thanks for your comment and suggestion!
@@NationalParkDiaries you’re very welcome.
for future reference, when its the fish its purnnounced ba-ss not base lmao
Amazing
Incredible studies! Wouldn't the easiest (maybe temporary) fix simply be to control the number of deer by other means then? Like hunting them?
Human hunting is a temporary fix, but studies show it doesn't reduce problems like deer-vehicle collisions which claim human lives in the same way natural predation does because of how predators change their behaviors around roads. Always advocate for well-researched natural solutions to natural problems when possible
I heard and saw mountain lions from where I lived in South Texas all the time. Very dangerous but beautiful and keep the deer from the streets.
Awesome thank you, people really need to comprehend that breakdown no trees deep water no minnows no frogs no birds no raccoons no wolves no deer no mountain lion no humans, we all need each other
The earth would flourish without humans lmao
People really don't understand how balanced and fragile as natural ecosystem is... I always see hunters talk about how important they are to the ecosystem (culling deer populations for example), but they refuse to acknowledge negative effects of wiping out predator species.
The reason these places are dying is social media.
Also lock downs where they closed the parks yet in 2018 they did stop people from enjoying national parks as well. Camping has been discouraged too.
Yup. A few years ago, horseshoe bend here in page arizona was a small gravel parking lot and free. Now you have to go thru a paid entry gate and the parking lot is huge and paved. Thanks to social media. They even charge us locals now to go to our own freaking local spot. It’s ridiculous.
@@PhaseSkater was it busy when it was free or did the gravel anticipate busy or wastefulness
Beautiful
Well done.
Thanks!
This is NOT true... All the cougars moved to Las Vegas to pursue Sugar which are carried by Daddies.
I visited every state and NP a bunch of years back. I saw one and only one mountain lion. It was on the was to El Malpais in NM at night. I stopped and got out of the vehicle hoping to catch another glance. I have since heard this is a stupid thing to do. Anyway, it dashed in front of my vehicle and that was that.
The premise that apex predators are vital to the health of the an ecosystem is undeniable, but cougars are not that shy. They live on the edges of Los Angeles, where I live. Before we were married, my wife lived in an apartment complex in Santa Clarita, just north of L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, and people in the complex had to make sure not to let their pets out, as a cougar would often come into the complex to hunt. People saw the animal repeatedly. I have seen one in O'Melveny Park, surrounded by neighborhoods on the north side of the San Fernando Valley, a really convenient place where thousands of people come to walk and to hike almost every day. Cougars periodically get hit by cars when they cross the freeways near, and sometimes in, L.A. If cougars can survive here, there must be something besides just the presence of people that is keeping them out of Zion.
It's probably a question of alternative places to live and what they are used to Its like city bird are almost deaf and dont care much for you whereas countryside bird flee from really far
If cougars keep getting hit by cars it is time you guys build a natire highway like in the netherlands. A small highway either above or below the highway that is built for just animals to cross.
@@RK-cj4oc In fact, we've recently begun building wildlife bridges, and there have long been underpasses. I wonder, however, how long it'll take for the animals to learn to use them.
@@CAMacKenzie nice. In the netherlands for the foxes and badgers at least it helpes alot. Best of luck
"Zi-un" not "Zi-on." Of course the locals call it "Zi-uns" which us just as awkward. Considering that I usually sleep outside under the stars when I go to Zion I'm not all that sad that mountain lions moved out of Zion Canyon and the Springdale area. Considering that the canyon is just a small part of the park and that most of the tourist activity is centered there it's probably a good tradeoff. In fact there's a rock art panel near the south entrance called Sacrrifice Rock. It doesn't depict a sacred ceremony. No, park officials decided to make it's location known with the understanding that the area would probably get trashed. That panel was sacrificed to draw the crowds and hopefully leave other areas unaffected.
I can’t stand it when people say Zi-ON, it’s the biggest give away that you’re a tourist.
Semantics
I literally cringe every time the narrator says Zion. I've also attributed making it a plural "Zions" to tourists as well.
@@himhim3344 When he shreds Zion's name, it literally sounds like vomit. I had to use all my will power to get through the video. When you condone mistakes, you become just like the Putin supporters of the world. The wisest people will welcome corrections.
Never heard a local say zi-un. I keep seeing that myth. Then again I’m from kanab. Is that not local enough? Everyone I knows says zi-on
What are some of the best parks to camping and get away from people that are scenic?
Hmm, the first three frames may hint at why you don't see them anymore
I spent time there in the winter. Absolutely no people. That's the secret
Its so off putting to see such a nice nature spot just packed full with wall to wall humans and tourists. It takes away the ability to enjoy the wilderness. Id rather explore a unpopulated, lesser known place and get to feel that sense of wonder and exploration into the wilderness, than go to a "famous spot" that is packed with vistors...
"Humans and tourists"... so what you're saying is tourists = 👽 I agree. I stopped visiting the main canyon years ago.
I actually visited Zion a little while ago and they (park ranger) said that they were only aware of ONE mountain lion in the park and it was on the outer part of it
The government feeding you lies!? That almost never happens. Next time, remind the ranger there must be two, to breed. Haha
if they are aware of one, theres probably 10...
@@TigerLily61811 There is no shortage of lions. Lucky for us, Utah has had hunting seasons for them forever and they are extremely shy here.
What a fascinating experiment! Who would’ve thought that the disappearance of cougars would also lead to the disappearance of things as remote from them as flowers and butterflies.
It's incredible the impact these predators can have on ecosystems all the way down the food chain! There's a great book called Where the Wild Things Were by William Stolzenburg if you're interested in learning more.
Cougars are making a return in New England and the mid-Atlantic. In the 1980s I 'swear" I saw a cougar in the NJ Pine Barrens. When I told a ranger, he denied it could have been a cougar. Later in the late 2000s I heard of numerous sightings of cougars in the North Quabbin area of Massachusetts. I learned that the local Fish and Wildlife folks denied their existence. The reason? If they admit the cougar's existence, then they need to take on the responsibilities associated with restoration of the critter which would be an endangered species. That is a land use political football that no politician wants to receive. Thanks for the upload.
Thanks for watching! I've heard stories myself of mountain lions here in the Southeast. But there are almost certainly no viable populations here.
I’m in New Jersey too, they’re here and frequently pass through. People forget that the pine barrens is 1.4 million square acres. That’s twice as large as Rhode Island. Plenty of space for cougars.
Obviously what happened to Zion is after Randall Clark diminished half of them. Joshua Graham finished the rest of them off
Sounds like white leg propaganda
Its true it's a good thing people care about the national parks but its gotten to a point where there's so many people coming in the parks that it disrupting the ecosystem and also all the idiots that come in and screaw up the place and leave their freaking trash everywhere
Overcrowding is certainly a problem. Any solution will need to accommodate increasing amounts of people while still protecting these resources. I don't envy the people who have to try and figure it out.
I think what they should do is close the parks and give them time to breathe and let the ecosystem get it together again and I don't mean close them all at once say like Yellowstone the park is under series stress right now from all the tourists so close the park down for a while like maybe a couple of months or heck if its super bad like a year give the wildlife and the environment time to recuperate u get what I'm saying
I see what you're saying, absolutely. Personally, I disagree though. I think our parks need to remain open to the public so that they can foster a sense of love and understanding for the resources they're protecting. If overcrowding is an issue, I think we need to find more permanent solutions to help protect these resources. Increased funding would be a great start since they could add the infrastructure needed to accommodate more visitors, offer more interpretation opportunities, etc. Some parks have gone to reservation systems to limit crowds though, which I think is a good way to allow people to visit while minimizing their impact.
in my opinion the best we can do to help with the over crowding of places like Zion is to advertise and develop the many other beautiful locations that we have in Utah for example Utahs second largest national park Capitol Reef (actually featured in this video the pic at 7:00) only gets a little over 1 million visitors a year and over all is a very similar experience to zion this is partially do to bad marketing of the park and a lack of development with in the park such as poorly maintained roads and beautiful trails not even being listed on any of the maps they give out but there are tons of places that we could develop and encourage travel to instead of overcrowding one particular park
@@MongoBongo271 That's a good idea
Here in New Mexico I have seen mountain lions in my neighborhood. I don’t bother them they don’t bother me. Beautiful animals
finally. sweet lion of zion
That’s funny. We have them in the San Diego area. Interesting
In 2020 I was hiking down the West Rim Trail in late November, a snow storm was up on the plateau. I came down the West Rim Trail solo, it was cold up top, it was late around 9pm, dark outside and stopped at Angels Landing staging area for to change my wet clothes. I heard the sound of a large boulder moving and my headlamp and 1200 lumen flash light shone in that direction. On the other side of the Walter Wiggles switchback (west side) was a female cougar. The large golden eyes in the flashlight gave her away. Supposedly she was stalking Bighorn sheep who frequent the area. Scared the crap out of me then I calmed down and realized the gap between us was too great for her to cross. Was not a bobcat or a lynx, had the long tail and around 150lbs possibly. She looked lean, could see her teets, definately a female. I walked to the Walter Wiggles and watched her walk off away from me. I waited a good 30 minutes and descended down to the Grotto then onto the Zions Lodge then back to town.
Never seen crowds like that at zion lol
'Speckled Base' LOL
The fish in the video is actually the "Speckled DACE" lol
@@NationalParkDiaries Looked like a Speckled Bass to me, thanks for the clarification. I assumed electronic voice mispronouncing bass as base.
This happens at most national parks because they don't allow hunters to keep the populations in check. You're not going to force mountain lions to live around millions of tourists but you obviously should remove some of the deer.
if one in 50 of the tourist would just dress and act as lions, the deer could be politely encouraged to move along before eating all the vegetation
Yah and they’re not going to let propel hunt deer around a million tourists either.
North Idaho reentered wolf's to the area and unfortunately it didn't have the intended results bc the native wolf's was a smaller bread then the Canadian wolf's they brought over only took under five years I believe before they opened hunting season on the them
Not even close dude. The Canadian wolves are the same species. They reopened hunting for wolves due to pressure from the Rancher lobby, spreading lies like what you just said.
Theres a lot of problems with how Zion is being run. I’ve lived within 30 mins of Zion my whole life. They’ve packed it full of people and made it like Disney lane. The deer population in Zion has disease because they are stuck in the canyon and do to it being a national park you can’t harvest them. The Utah wild life division has allowed for mass killing of mountain lions in areas surrounding Zion. Ive tree and released them with hounds for the last 2 years and I’ve yet to see a mature adult. There’s a lot that are killed before they reach 3 years old.
Need to stop hunting mountain lion. Hunters don’t need to kill every wild mammal in the US
it makes me sick to hear that is happening.
I know I’m supposed to be scared but they are so beautiful and the fur looks like it would be the softest 🥹 I just wish I could pet them just a little
Don't we all lol
I love my state with all my heart, but Zion national park is pretty awful. You cant escape the crowds and just enjoy the quiet of nature.
Yeah it feels more like a Disneyland attraction and not like a wildlife reserve. Especially the way foot traffic is filtered. Makes me wonder why people even bother traveling here.
@@holben27Exactly! Arches and canyonlands has the same problem, but they are a lot better.
Cougars aren't all that shy. I was at the university extension, middle of the Arizona day and one walked right between me and another guy about 40 meters away. It looked first at me, then him and went casually on its way.
Saw 1 cougar and now you're a scientist
Same thing that happened with the wolves in Yellowstone. Beavers were dying because thier was no trees no trees because too much deer eating baby trees too much deer because no wolves
If you have a deer problem, you could invite hunters in
It looks, by what you said, human persence was the cause of all this, so for the mountanis lions to come back, you would have to limit human pesence, can you do that?
seriously one of the few places they are found. Have you heard of California? They are all over the place
At least the Yaoguai are still there.
That’s a nice kitty
lol
I live in lowcountry South Carolina and we are not supposed to have mountain lions or black bears here anymore. I swear I have seen them both (at different times) when I lived on the edge of the Francis Marion National Forest. 🤓🍻
That's where I'm originally from!
@@NationalParkDiaries What part? I grew up in Hanahan but lived in Huger as an adult for about 16 years and raised my children there. There was a boundary marker for the Francis Marion National Forest in our backyard. The best years of my life. 🤓🍻
@@alsaunders7805 Grew up in Charleston!
One of the few good things about covid was a year+ of giving more of the world back to nature for a short while...
People act like animals have more rights to Earth than humans do? Why do humans not belong there?
Just a correction, but the cougar's scientific name is Puma concolor, not Felis concolor.
You're totally right. No idea how that one slipped by me, it was drilled into me during Wildlife Bio. My professors would be ashamed lol
@@NationalParkDiaries don't worry it's not a feliny
In 1995 came face to face with one at Bryce Canyon
"Cougar is the culprint" what? 😅
aptly named for the levels of destruction then
Too much humans is not good for national parks. I guess it is if you’re only interested in money, but the environments don’t rely on money to be thriving, they actually require as little human impact as possible.
Courier 6 and Joshua Graham
"I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me."