Mountain Lions: Big Cats in High Places Natural World


Mountain Lions: Big Cats in High Places

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Mountain Lions: Big Cats in High Places. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

This is North America's big cat.

0:00:310:00:34

Known as a mountain lion or a cougar.

0:00:410:00:46

They appear powerful...

0:00:480:00:50

COUGAR HISSES AND SNARLS

0:00:500:00:53

..intimidating...

0:00:540:00:56

COUGAR HISSES

0:00:560:00:58

..and deadly.

0:01:000:01:02

But incredibly, very little has been discovered about them...

0:01:080:01:12

..until now.

0:01:140:01:16

This film follows a year in the life

0:01:220:01:25

of two amazing mountain lion families nestled in the Rockies.

0:01:250:01:30

MAN: Going hot.

0:01:320:01:34

They are part of the most intense study ever carried out on

0:01:360:01:39

mountain lions in North America.

0:01:390:01:42

By sharing intimate moments in the secretive lives of these families

0:01:510:01:55

and their neighbours...

0:01:550:01:57

..scientists are finally revealing

0:02:010:02:04

the true nature of North America's big cat.

0:02:040:02:07

Mountain lions can be found

0:03:060:03:08

right across the western states of the USA.

0:03:080:03:11

Not that you'd know it.

0:03:130:03:15

They're wary, elusive creatures...

0:03:180:03:20

..ghostly figures on the landscape.

0:03:220:03:25

Which is why hard scientific evidence about their behaviour

0:03:270:03:31

is thin on the ground.

0:03:310:03:33

It's generally been assumed that mountain lions are solitary animals

0:03:360:03:42

and that the only interactions between adults

0:03:420:03:45

either result in mating or violence.

0:03:450:03:48

But now those assumptions are being challenged.

0:03:510:03:55

Just north of Jackson, Wyoming,

0:04:030:04:06

the scientists of Panthera's Teton Cougar Project

0:04:060:04:09

have been carrying out the most exhaustive study ever conducted

0:04:090:04:13

into mountain lions in the USA.

0:04:130:04:16

She's here.

0:04:200:04:22

There. If you kind of get onto this first shelf and go around that way.

0:04:240:04:28

Under the leadership of Mark Elbroch,

0:04:280:04:30

the team have been using the latest in GPS technology

0:04:300:04:34

to track mountain lions.

0:04:340:04:36

She's moved quite a bit, which is good,

0:04:360:04:38

-so we should get in there and set some cameras.

-Sounds good.

0:04:380:04:41

And then record their behaviour on video cameras.

0:04:410:04:44

They're using 13 years of data and thousands of video clips

0:04:480:04:53

to re-write our understanding of mountain lion behaviour.

0:04:530:04:57

Oh, let's have a look at what this is.

0:04:570:05:00

They also hope to answer one burning question.

0:05:000:05:03

In our study area, the population of mountain lions

0:05:050:05:08

has dropped by about half in

0:05:080:05:11

the last seven to eight years.

0:05:110:05:13

And our goal has really been

0:05:130:05:15

to figure out why.

0:05:150:05:17

Like any big Hollywood film the project has its stars -

0:05:180:05:23

two, in fact.

0:05:230:05:26

The first is known as F61.

0:05:260:05:29

When I think of a successful mountain lion

0:05:330:05:36

she is the one I think of.

0:05:360:05:40

F61 is strong, she's physically able,

0:05:440:05:49

she's the most competent hunter.

0:05:490:05:52

She is really the epitome of a successful mountain lion.

0:05:520:05:56

F61 currently has two, one-year-old kittens.

0:06:010:06:06

A male...

0:06:060:06:08

..and a female, who is affectionately known as Frostbite.

0:06:100:06:14

They're almost as big as their mother,

0:06:180:06:20

but there's no doubt who's in charge.

0:06:200:06:23

SHE HISSES

0:06:250:06:26

Despite the kittens' size, they're still dependent on their mother.

0:06:300:06:35

It will be another six months before they will have learnt how to hunt

0:06:390:06:43

and all the skills they will need to survive on their own.

0:06:430:06:46

Their neighbour in the study area is the other star of the project.

0:06:540:06:58

F51.

0:07:030:07:05

Having filmed her for several years,

0:07:100:07:12

Mark has noticed her parenting style is quite different.

0:07:120:07:17

51 does not provide for her kittens as well as 61 does.

0:07:180:07:23

51 is a loose,

0:07:290:07:32

you might even say like a hippy mother,

0:07:320:07:35

just providing lots of love,

0:07:350:07:38

but not necessarily all the sustenance they need.

0:07:380:07:40

Thanks to "Easy-going" F51,

0:07:460:07:50

"Super Mum" F61, and other cats,

0:07:500:07:53

Mark has been granted an incredible insight into

0:07:530:07:57

the world of the mountain lion.

0:07:570:07:59

He's witnessed intimate moments of mountain lions playing...

0:07:590:08:05

..eating together...

0:08:140:08:16

..and caching their kills, covering them up to minimise

0:08:250:08:30

the chances of a scavenger stealing a free meal.

0:08:300:08:34

He's also been able to witness some truly unique moments in their lives.

0:08:410:08:45

In this video we caught something incredibly rare.

0:08:490:08:53

Note the carcass.

0:08:590:09:01

F61 and F51 are about to appear.

0:09:010:09:04

Don't blink.

0:09:040:09:05

F51 and 61.

0:09:070:09:09

And 61 wins and takes off.

0:09:090:09:10

It's just a very quick, lightning speed,

0:09:110:09:14

mountain lion speed you might say,

0:09:140:09:17

they fought over the carcass and 61 ran off with it.

0:09:170:09:19

Amidst the thousands of videos Mark has studied,

0:09:210:09:25

documenting dozens of interactions,

0:09:250:09:28

this video is one of just four in which there is any violence.

0:09:280:09:33

We've come to realise by doing this research

0:09:350:09:38

that physical contact is not the rule, it's the exception.

0:09:380:09:44

Mark has many videos that record non-violent interactions,

0:09:470:09:52

and the first footage Mark ever captured of a meeting

0:09:520:09:55

between two female mountain lions is a good example.

0:09:550:09:59

Here comes a nine-year-old resident female, and she comes round,

0:09:590:10:05

she turns, and here comes a six-year-old female.

0:10:050:10:08

She's doing mild hissing.

0:10:090:10:11

And in the beginning we thought,

0:10:110:10:13

"Gosh, all that hissing - it's the pre-runner to violence.

0:10:130:10:17

"It's super aggressive."

0:10:170:10:19

No, hissing seems pretty normal

0:10:190:10:21

now that we've seen it over and over and over again.

0:10:210:10:25

So, what happened next?

0:10:250:10:26

They spent two days together and this is what they did.

0:10:260:10:29

They shared a meal.

0:10:310:10:34

It blew me away.

0:10:340:10:35

Having now viewed thousands of videos,

0:10:380:10:41

Mark has concluded that most of the previously held assumptions about

0:10:410:10:45

mountain lions are wrong.

0:10:450:10:48

We're beginning to describe a species that has some sort of social system,

0:10:490:10:54

that is interacting with a frequency that challenges this idea that

0:10:540:10:59

they are solitary animals.

0:10:590:11:01

And it's just opening our eyes and completely turning everything

0:11:010:11:04

on its head on what we thought were the social lives of mountain lions.

0:11:040:11:08

"Easy-going" F51 has recently given birth to a new litter of kittens.

0:11:150:11:21

KITTENS SQUEAK

0:11:210:11:24

As this incredible footage reveals,

0:11:270:11:30

for the first five weeks of life the kittens remain in their den,

0:11:300:11:34

living off their mother's milk.

0:11:340:11:36

But their mother, F51, will still need to hunt during this period.

0:11:390:11:44

So, while she's several miles away,

0:11:440:11:46

Mark and his team slip in to assess the kittens' health.

0:11:460:11:50

MARK: Someone hold that one nice and tight.

0:11:500:11:53

We're good. Here we go.

0:11:540:11:56

I hear 'em. I hear kittens.

0:11:580:12:01

SQUEAKING

0:12:010:12:03

OK, we got one.

0:12:030:12:06

OK, little buddy. It's all right. There's our first kitten.

0:12:060:12:09

Oh, my goodness. Oh.

0:12:100:12:12

All right. Nicely done. Beautiful.

0:12:150:12:19

The team have limited time to work before F51 returns.

0:12:190:12:24

OK. Number two.

0:12:250:12:27

Oh, nice biting pretty hard.

0:12:270:12:30

All right. There we go.

0:12:300:12:33

Looks like a male to me.

0:12:330:12:34

Number three.

0:12:350:12:37

Holy mackerel, watch that back leg.

0:12:410:12:45

Here we go. Coming out.

0:12:450:12:48

Even at this early age the kittens have distinct personalities.

0:12:480:12:52

This guy's... He's a loose cannon.

0:12:550:12:57

Whoever's holding this bag, do not let go.

0:12:570:13:00

He is our most lively cat to date.

0:13:000:13:02

All right. We're good. Let's get some work done.

0:13:020:13:06

Each kitten is weighed...

0:13:060:13:07

This one is three and a half pounds. That is small.

0:13:070:13:13

..and sexed.

0:13:130:13:15

And we hold it like that, this is a female.

0:13:150:13:17

Then each one is fitted with a special expandable

0:13:170:13:20

kitten-sized radio collar.

0:13:200:13:23

This the part where you try not to get bit.

0:13:230:13:25

And then we go one ear at a time.

0:13:280:13:30

Like so.

0:13:330:13:35

Beautiful.

0:13:350:13:37

Only when the kittens are bigger will they be given a GPS version.

0:13:370:13:41

RADIO HISSES She is online.

0:13:440:13:47

Each kitten is allocated a study number and an ear tag.

0:13:470:13:51

The number of this female is going to be 99.

0:13:510:13:55

-WOMAN:

-F99.

-Correct.

0:13:560:13:59

Monitoring kittens is a key part of the Cougar Project's work.

0:13:590:14:03

Tagged, collared. You checked the collar?

0:14:030:14:06

This is a critical age for kitten survivorship.

0:14:060:14:08

And many don't even make it to the first steps beyond the den.

0:14:080:14:13

But here we'll be able to track these four kittens

0:14:130:14:15

and see whether they survive to disperse on their own.

0:14:150:14:19

The kittens' chances of making it to adulthood are not good.

0:14:220:14:26

KITTEN HISSES

0:14:260:14:28

HOWLING

0:14:280:14:32

HOWLING

0:14:340:14:38

Wolves were recently reintroduced into this area of Wyoming.

0:14:410:14:46

Not only do they compete for available prey, like elk and deer,

0:14:460:14:50

but wolf packs will often chase a mountain lion off a kill.

0:14:500:14:55

Worse still, they will kill any kittens they come across.

0:14:580:15:02

Mountain lions are also threatened by humans.

0:15:050:15:10

They can legally be hunted at this time of year,

0:15:100:15:13

and being collared and clearly part of a scientific study

0:15:130:15:16

offers no protection.

0:15:160:15:18

Even the weather poses a threat.

0:15:270:15:30

This is a particularly harsh environment.

0:15:340:15:37

We get frigid temperatures, deep snow.

0:15:370:15:41

HOWLING

0:15:430:15:45

There's all these dominant predators here,

0:15:450:15:47

competitors with mountain lions that threaten youngsters.

0:15:470:15:51

So, it's incredibly hard for small kittens to survive.

0:15:530:15:56

But the arrival of winter,

0:16:000:16:03

with long periods of sub-zero temperatures, is not all bad news.

0:16:030:16:08

For the scientists it's also a time of opportunity.

0:16:100:16:13

This is capture season.

0:16:130:16:16

Fresh snow gives Mark and the team the best chance of tracking

0:16:160:16:20

and capturing adult mountain lions

0:16:200:16:22

so they can add them to the study group.

0:16:220:16:25

It's essential work if their research is to be successful.

0:16:250:16:28

This time last year we were monitoring 15 animals -

0:16:310:16:35

there was nine adults and six kittens.

0:16:350:16:39

Now as we enter this capture season we're down to six cats.

0:16:390:16:45

And that's because cats have been killed, cats have dispersed,

0:16:450:16:50

collars have malfunctioned.

0:16:500:16:52

And now we're trying to boost back up

0:16:520:16:54

to maintain our research for the next coming year.

0:16:540:16:57

The team have been joined by Boone Smith and his father Sam,

0:17:000:17:06

experienced mountain lion houndsmen.

0:17:060:17:08

We're off. We'll go get 'em.

0:17:080:17:10

Yeehaw.

0:17:130:17:14

Today the team are on the hunt for a particularly large cat

0:17:140:17:19

known as the "Crystal Male".

0:17:190:17:21

His nickname is a reference to a nearby creek,

0:17:210:17:24

and Mark has made several unsuccessful attempts

0:17:240:17:28

to capture him before.

0:17:280:17:30

All right. Let's catch this guy.

0:17:300:17:33

They got a track right there, man.

0:17:340:17:37

Dogs are winding it.

0:17:370:17:38

The "Crystal Male" is currently the only resident male in

0:17:380:17:42

the study area, so understanding how he interacts with

0:17:420:17:46

the females like F51 and F61 is crucial to Mark's research.

0:17:460:17:51

We've been following the cat for about a mile and a half.

0:17:550:17:58

He's come up here and then he's rolled.

0:17:580:18:01

Thrown himself to this side several times.

0:18:010:18:04

You can see the back of him, with all the fur sticking in the snow.

0:18:040:18:08

And then his footprints. We call these stand-up prints.

0:18:090:18:13

You can see that this has gone all crispy from the heat of the body.

0:18:130:18:16

He spent enough time here that he melted the snow,

0:18:160:18:19

and so when he stood up in it, it freezes those first few tracks.

0:18:190:18:23

And then he goes off and nice fresh tracks.

0:18:250:18:27

The tracks are so recent the team ready the hounds.

0:18:280:18:32

If they get close to a mountain lion

0:18:320:18:35

it will instinctively take refuge in a tree

0:18:350:18:37

allowing the scientists to catch up and hopefully capture it.

0:18:370:18:42

HOUNDS HOWL AND BARK

0:18:420:18:46

Right now they're on top of the rock line.

0:19:030:19:06

Depending on the chase, it may be minutes, or possibly hours,

0:19:060:19:10

before the team see the hounds again.

0:19:100:19:13

Say your lion, come right here.

0:19:190:19:22

-See when he goes back.

-Think he goes back.

0:19:220:19:24

-I don't know, Sam.

-Huh? No.

0:19:260:19:29

We got a long haul.

0:19:320:19:34

Having started at sun-up,

0:19:340:19:36

they finally reach the barking dogs late in the afternoon.

0:19:360:19:40

DOGS BARK

0:19:400:19:42

The dogs have successfully chased their quarry up a tree.

0:19:470:19:51

He's big!

0:19:510:19:53

But with sunset less than an hour away, Mark must work quickly.

0:19:580:20:03

It's so exciting.

0:20:030:20:04

It looks like we are going to catch the "Crystal Male,"

0:20:040:20:08

who has eluded us for two years. And he's a big boy.

0:20:080:20:12

Gorgeous, gorgeous, big boy.

0:20:120:20:14

And we tighten it.

0:20:150:20:16

The plan is to anaesthetise the cat using a dart gun.

0:20:160:20:21

Going hot.

0:20:210:20:22

You ready?

0:20:220:20:24

COUGAR GROWLS

0:20:250:20:26

-Time?

-3.45.

0:20:260:20:30

He's going to go down this time.

0:20:300:20:32

But the "Crystal Male" is not going to go easily.

0:20:320:20:36

He's jumping.

0:20:360:20:37

He's trying to come out, he's coming down the other side.

0:20:370:20:41

DOGS BARK AND HOWL

0:20:410:20:44

COUGAR GROWLS All right, no, no dogs!

0:20:440:20:46

Where's the bag?

0:20:460:20:48

I got him. I'm with you, go.

0:20:480:20:50

By the time Mark and the team catch up with the drugged cat,

0:20:580:21:02

night is falling.

0:21:020:21:04

OK, go ahead, Mark.

0:21:170:21:18

Here, I need your head lamp. Shine over here.

0:21:180:21:20

The "Crystal Male" is so big, the collar they have only just fits.

0:21:200:21:25

The collar's on.

0:21:250:21:27

So, I think when he relaxes,

0:21:270:21:29

it's going to be actually a pretty good fit.

0:21:290:21:31

There you go.

0:21:340:21:35

The cat is given its study number, M85.

0:21:350:21:39

Having checked his vital signs, the team retreat to minimise

0:21:450:21:49

disturbance as he comes round.

0:21:490:21:51

After a brief night's sleep,

0:22:000:22:02

the team are eager to see if the collar is working correctly.

0:22:020:22:06

We captured him right on the edge of this cliff

0:22:080:22:13

and he's moved up there and then down along the cliff,

0:22:130:22:17

and this is his usual travel route.

0:22:170:22:19

We've seen his sign all along here,

0:22:190:22:21

and he's going to just go back to his routine,

0:22:210:22:24

heading into the centre of his home range.

0:22:240:22:27

Super.

0:22:280:22:29

That will probably keep him

0:22:290:22:31

beyond the typical movements of hunters, so it's nice to see.

0:22:310:22:36

Capturing M85 was particularly exciting for our research project.

0:22:380:22:43

Our study area is quite vast,

0:22:430:22:45

I mean, it's over 2,000 square kilometres

0:22:450:22:48

and these males have VAST territories.

0:22:480:22:53

Four times, sometimes, the size of a female territory.

0:22:530:22:57

Overlaying M85's movements with data from F51, F61

0:22:570:23:04

and other females in the study area, will be a significant contribution

0:23:040:23:09

to the project's understanding of male-female mountain lion dynamics.

0:23:090:23:14

Large herds of wintering elk are the main food source for

0:23:270:23:31

mountain lions at this time of year.

0:23:310:23:34

"Easy-going" F51 must average between

0:23:360:23:40

three and four kills every month to feed her young family.

0:23:400:23:44

They face other pressures, too.

0:23:470:23:49

Night-time temperatures have plummeted to -25 degrees centigrade.

0:23:520:23:57

Several of the kittens have lost the tips of their ears

0:23:580:24:01

and tails to the extreme cold.

0:24:010:24:04

If these unusually low temperatures persist, Mark knows

0:24:060:24:10

the kittens may struggle to survive.

0:24:100:24:12

That's a kitten, isn't it?

0:24:200:24:22

Oh, my God. We've got a dead kitten.

0:24:220:24:24

Oh.

0:24:240:24:26

The radio collar clearly identifies the body

0:24:280:24:32

as one of F51's young kittens.

0:24:320:24:34

It was inevitable, but, yeah...

0:24:360:24:38

There are no signs of a predator nearby.

0:24:430:24:46

OK, got the family group coming out this way.

0:24:470:24:50

So, Mark examines the body to try and determine the cause of death.

0:24:510:24:56

Skull's intact.

0:24:590:25:00

I live mountain lions.

0:25:020:25:03

I track them, I watch videos of them,

0:25:040:25:08

I go to sleep at night and I dream about mountain lions.

0:25:080:25:12

It's such a privilege to be able to work with a species like this.

0:25:120:25:15

But when I come across the actual body of a dead mountain lion,

0:25:170:25:21

I almost go numb and the scientist takes over.

0:25:210:25:25

Observe, record, figure out what happened.

0:25:250:25:28

External wounds essentially non-existent.

0:25:290:25:34

I see absolutely no trauma, no signs.

0:25:340:25:37

But that night it'll hit me.

0:25:370:25:40

They're part of my world.

0:25:410:25:44

You know, I'm following their lives every day...

0:25:440:25:48

and then it's a loss.

0:25:480:25:50

So small.

0:25:520:25:54

It looks like the kitten may have died from exposure,

0:25:570:26:02

possibly after falling into a nearby stream.

0:26:020:26:04

The harsh conditions persist, keeping predators

0:26:150:26:19

and prey low down in the valleys.

0:26:190:26:21

So it's not surprising that F51's young family suffers another

0:26:230:26:28

death a few weeks later.

0:26:280:26:30

HOWLING

0:26:300:26:33

Her family were feeding on a carcass and a wolf pack came in

0:26:330:26:37

and chased them up the mountain and away.

0:26:370:26:39

And one kitten disappeared on the landscape.

0:26:410:26:44

There was no sign of that kitten ever again.

0:26:440:26:47

"Easy-going" F51 has now lost half of her original litter of four.

0:26:540:26:59

It'll be another year before her remaining six-month-old

0:27:000:27:04

kittens are able to fend for themselves.

0:27:040:27:07

It just goes to show how successful her neighbour,

0:27:090:27:12

"Super Mum" F61, has been.

0:27:120:27:14

She has managed to raise two kittens from a litter of three

0:27:170:27:21

almost to adulthood.

0:27:210:27:22

Frostbite and her brother are the mountain lion

0:27:260:27:28

equivalent of teenagers.

0:27:280:27:30

But like adolescents the world over,

0:27:330:27:35

they show little appreciation for their mother's efforts.

0:27:350:27:38

Her son, in particular, is trying to assert his dominance.

0:27:410:27:45

MOTHER COUGAR GROWLS

0:28:020:28:04

Soon these youngsters will leave to establish their own territories.

0:28:240:28:28

When they do, their mother may well look for a male to mate with

0:28:310:28:35

and have another litter.

0:28:350:28:36

The most likely candidate is M85, the "Crystal Male."

0:28:370:28:42

Since being collared, Mark has followed his movements closely.

0:28:440:28:48

A process that has given him a unique opportunity to witness

0:28:500:28:54

some extraordinary mountain lion behaviour.

0:28:540:28:56

This particular day I will remember forever.

0:28:590:29:03

It took us nearly two hours to locate where M85 was on this mountain

0:29:090:29:13

and I set up the scope, and we had this camera rolling,

0:29:130:29:18

and then this happened.

0:29:180:29:20

Something I never expected to see.

0:29:280:29:31

Here are three adult mountain lions moving on the landscape.

0:29:310:29:36

That is not antisocial, that is not solitary.

0:29:360:29:40

Three adult mountain lions -

0:29:400:29:42

two females sharing the male, if you will, like a resource, and then the

0:29:420:29:48

snow came in and made it impossible to track their movements,

0:29:480:29:52

but then when it cleared, we watched M85 mating with

0:29:520:29:56

another mountain lion ten feet away.

0:29:560:29:58

Never in my wildest dreams would I have predicted such

0:30:000:30:03

an encounter and as far as I know, this has never ever been documented.

0:30:030:30:08

One reason that M85 might be in such demand

0:30:110:30:16

is that he's one of the few males left in the study area.

0:30:160:30:20

M29, the father of F51's kittens, was shot recently by hunters,

0:30:210:30:27

which means breeding male mountain lions are in short supply.

0:30:270:30:32

However, M29's remaining offspring and their mother are thriving.

0:30:320:30:38

And if "Easy-going" F51 can shepherd them

0:30:380:30:41

successfully through the final weeks of winter,

0:30:410:30:44

their chances of continued survival will improve dramatically.

0:30:440:30:49

Now, with spring just around the corner, life should get easier.

0:31:310:31:36

But data from F51's collar reveals disturbing news.

0:31:450:31:51

That doesn't make any sense at all.

0:31:510:31:53

The e-mail is an alert.

0:31:540:31:57

"Mortality Data" means that F51's collar

0:31:570:32:00

hasn't moved at all for 18 hours.

0:32:000:32:03

It may just have fallen off, but what's concerning is that

0:32:040:32:08

the GPS data shows that F51 and M85 have crossed paths.

0:32:080:32:15

While Mark's research has shown that mountain lion fights are rare,

0:32:150:32:19

the signs are ominous.

0:32:190:32:20

Mark heads off to solve the mystery.

0:32:220:32:25

On his way, he scans the snow for clues.

0:32:360:32:39

Something's going up and down here I want to look at.

0:32:430:32:46

Here she is. Here they are running across.

0:32:460:32:49

Look at the size of M85's footprints.

0:32:490:32:52

Big. Right here.

0:32:520:32:54

The trail leads Mark towards the GPS point indicated by the collar.

0:33:000:33:05

This is it.

0:33:080:33:09

F51 and her family came down this chute.

0:33:090:33:12

And they must have been making noise,

0:33:140:33:16

kicking rocks or calling, kittens playing, who knows?

0:33:160:33:20

And M85 comes up right here, right off his kill,

0:33:200:33:23

and they engage for the first time right here.

0:33:230:33:27

And it's boom!

0:33:270:33:28

It's just covered in cat fur. These cats are actually fighting.

0:33:280:33:32

In ten years of studying mountain lions, I've seen this once before.

0:33:320:33:35

Fur everywhere. Look at them.

0:33:350:33:37

They've rolled over and they've gone down hill,

0:33:370:33:39

and there's the first sign blood.

0:33:390:33:41

You can see they've slid down the hill down here.

0:33:410:33:43

Let's just keep following it down.

0:33:430:33:46

Oh, my gosh. I think I can see something from here.

0:33:460:33:49

Ah.

0:33:490:33:51

This is exactly what you don't want to see.

0:33:510:33:54

Phew.

0:33:540:33:55

Oooh, it looks bad.

0:33:570:33:59

Unbelievable.

0:34:010:34:03

Ah.

0:34:060:34:07

Oh...

0:34:070:34:09

It's F51.

0:34:110:34:13

She's been killed by a bite to the head.

0:34:130:34:17

51.

0:34:190:34:21

How many times I've seen her in the wild, slipping around a corner.

0:34:210:34:25

This is a huge loss for us, a huge loss for the project.

0:34:250:34:28

Just going to remove the collar.

0:34:280:34:30

And so she started a wild mountain lion

0:34:350:34:39

and she'll end a wild mountain lion.

0:34:390:34:41

One question answered. We now know what happened to F51.

0:34:470:34:51

But now the next question is, what's happening with her kittens?

0:34:510:34:55

All right. Well...yeah.

0:34:570:34:59

Their future is bleak.

0:35:000:35:02

The tracks in the snow tell Mark what has happened,

0:35:080:35:12

but there seems to be no answer to the question, why?

0:35:120:35:15

Spinning through the project's video archive doesn't help either.

0:35:190:35:23

There are plenty of instances of males interacting with females,

0:35:250:35:29

but none result in violence, even if the female has kittens with her.

0:35:290:35:34

Every time we've seen a male approach a female outside courtship,

0:35:350:35:40

this is exactly what they do. They slink in.

0:35:400:35:44

Notice how low he's holding his body to the ground.

0:35:440:35:47

Notice how his ears are to the side and almost sagging.

0:35:470:35:51

They minimise their profile, they try to look smaller.

0:35:510:35:55

It is completely non-aggressive, non-threatening in every way.

0:35:550:36:00

He clearly just wants to share a meal

0:36:000:36:02

and you can see as he comes in, F61, there's no hissing,

0:36:020:36:07

there's nothing, she just watches.

0:36:070:36:09

She doesn't place herself in between her kitten and him,

0:36:090:36:13

and it's the kitten that does all the hissing.

0:36:130:36:16

There they are.

0:36:190:36:21

Massive resident adult male, feeding on the carcass,

0:36:210:36:26

three-month-old kitten and mother falling asleep in the background.

0:36:260:36:31

F51's orphaned kittens are now eight months old,

0:36:420:36:47

and can only be tracked with basic radio technology,

0:36:470:36:50

making it difficult to pin-point their location.

0:36:500:36:54

Since their mother's death, they haven't been seen.

0:36:540:36:57

Only the rhythmic heartbeat of the radio signal tells

0:37:000:37:04

the team that the kittens are still alive.

0:37:040:37:06

The primary challenge that these kittens face is starvation.

0:37:090:37:12

Research would suggest that they have absolutely no chance at survival.

0:37:140:37:18

That most kittens orphaned, less than one year old will die.

0:37:180:37:22

At least the spring thaw means F51's orphans won't freeze to death.

0:37:270:37:32

And, four weeks after losing their mother, they've reached

0:37:340:37:38

the spot where Mark will be able to get a good look at them.

0:37:380:37:41

FAINT CLICKING

0:37:440:37:46

You hear that? There they are.

0:37:460:37:48

I'll bet you they're down the river bottom and let's see

0:37:480:37:52

if we can have a look.

0:37:520:37:53

All right. Let me grab my pack.

0:37:530:37:55

Mark knows he has to tread carefully.

0:37:590:38:01

He could easily scare the kittens away.

0:38:010:38:04

Oh!

0:38:070:38:09

I've got one.

0:38:090:38:11

She's...She's eating this nasty, nasty elk carcass.

0:38:120:38:17

Well, that answers one question.

0:38:180:38:21

They've been surviving for a month on their own,

0:38:210:38:24

and this is the perfect time because all this food's appearing.

0:38:240:38:28

Look at that.

0:38:280:38:30

She's tearing into that old elk. Oh!

0:38:340:38:38

Incredible. Where is her sister?

0:38:410:38:45

Where is her sister?

0:38:450:38:47

I've got her.

0:38:500:38:51

She's just lying out there. Right in the open. Oh, beautiful!

0:38:540:38:58

Incredible. I can't believe we can see them.

0:39:050:39:08

They look great. They're healthy, they're stocky.

0:39:080:39:11

So great to see them feeding on carcasses,

0:39:220:39:25

but it's dangerous.

0:39:250:39:27

Everybody else feeds on carcasses too.

0:39:320:39:35

To be near something so smelly can draw in grizzly bears,

0:39:350:39:39

black bears, wolves.

0:39:390:39:41

If they're not careful, they could be food themselves.

0:39:410:39:44

If their mother had still been alive,

0:39:460:39:48

the kittens would have remained within a fairly defined range.

0:39:480:39:52

Without her influence, the orphans roam far

0:39:550:39:58

and wide to scavenge for food.

0:39:580:40:00

They're not the only cats on the move.

0:40:100:40:13

Springtime usually sees adolescent mountain lions

0:40:140:40:18

leaving their mother to establish their own territories.

0:40:180:40:22

It's often the biggest challenge they will ever face.

0:40:220:40:25

It's an uncertain time in the sense that they face unknown dangers.

0:40:290:40:34

They are navigating in between the territories

0:40:340:40:36

of established mountain lions.

0:40:360:40:38

They are trying to find a place where they have

0:40:380:40:41

other mountain lions nearby, so that they can socialise and mate,

0:40:410:40:47

and also have the resources in terms of prey

0:40:470:40:49

that can sustain them and their future families.

0:40:490:40:52

"Super Mum" F61's son has gone north, out of the study area,

0:40:550:41:02

but her daughter, Frostbite, has remained close to home.

0:41:020:41:05

So, I'm just going to pull up Frostbite's data.

0:41:070:41:10

It's really been fun to watch her sort of explore and try to disperse,

0:41:100:41:14

if you will, and then return to her mother a couple of times.

0:41:140:41:17

So here, for instance, we saw a little exploratory journey

0:41:170:41:21

out into the National Park

0:41:210:41:22

and then, finally, started moving south.

0:41:220:41:26

And, of course, she's following the natural terrain, just following the

0:41:260:41:30

mountains down and she follows them straight down to the town of Jackson.

0:41:300:41:35

She's been the perfect mountain lion,

0:41:350:41:37

in the sense that nobody knows that she's there.

0:41:370:41:40

Despite her proximity to town, Frostbite appears to be doing well.

0:41:430:41:47

This mule deer carcass may be evidence

0:41:490:41:51

of her first independent kill.

0:41:510:41:53

Remote cameras are set up.

0:41:540:41:56

Under the cover of darkness, Frostbite reveals herself.

0:42:110:42:15

She's doing super.

0:42:230:42:25

She's on her own, she's surviving, she's hunting,

0:42:260:42:30

she's establishing a territory.

0:42:300:42:33

She's doing everything we would hope that a disbursing mountain lion

0:42:330:42:37

would have the opportunity to do.

0:42:370:42:39

Frostbite has proved that she has the skills to survive on her own,

0:42:430:42:48

even in a noisy neighbourhood.

0:42:480:42:50

F51's orphaned kittens have yet to develop their survival skills.

0:43:090:43:15

Small prey like squirrels might supply them with enough to eat.

0:43:150:43:20

But that would depend on them catching one.

0:43:230:43:26

Mark's video archive offers an insight

0:43:540:43:58

into the challenges the nine-month-old orphans face.

0:43:580:44:01

This video is particularly difficult to watch.

0:44:010:44:04

F61 has maimed a fawn and left her kittens to figure it out.

0:44:040:44:10

And you can see these two kittens, which are 12 months old,

0:44:110:44:15

have no idea how to kill it.

0:44:150:44:17

They're batting it and trying to figure out

0:44:170:44:20

how to turn this into food.

0:44:200:44:22

This is important because it illustrates how in-equipped kittens

0:44:240:44:29

are to survive on their own even at one year old,

0:44:290:44:34

and how dependent upon their mothers they are even at this age.

0:44:340:44:38

Mark had not expected the kittens to survive longer than

0:44:430:44:47

a month on their own.

0:44:470:44:48

Somehow they have scraped by, scavenging from carcasses

0:44:480:44:52

they have found.

0:44:520:44:53

Both are smaller than they should be, but while one of them

0:44:550:44:58

looks alert, the other is lethargic,

0:44:580:45:01

clearly struggling.

0:45:010:45:03

Now, ten weeks after their mother's death,

0:45:120:45:14

Mark heads out to check on them again.

0:45:140:45:17

For one the struggle has proved too much.

0:45:170:45:20

Mark finds the corpse of the weaker kitten, F75.

0:45:230:45:27

I can only imagine that... she starved to death,

0:45:340:45:38

which is not surprising given that

0:45:380:45:40

the last time we saw her she looked bony.

0:45:400:45:44

Her hips were jutting out, you could see that she was significantly

0:45:440:45:49

slimmer, skinnier than her sister.

0:45:490:45:52

You know, we'll keep following F99 and hope for the best.

0:46:000:46:04

F99 is now the sole survivor of F51's final litter.

0:46:280:46:33

Holy mackerel.

0:46:400:46:42

Watch that back leg. There we go.

0:46:420:46:45

The number of this female is going to be 99.

0:46:500:46:55

-F99.

-Correct.

0:46:550:46:57

F99's chances of continued survival will depend on her learning

0:47:030:47:08

to hunt on her own.

0:47:080:47:09

Scavenging food from old kills is inherently risky.

0:47:110:47:15

Carcasses attract all sorts of predators.

0:47:160:47:19

Even other scavengers are a threat.

0:47:260:47:28

Circling vultures indicate a carcass is nearby.

0:47:360:47:39

But these bald eagles aren't willing to share the spoils.

0:47:420:47:46

On this occasion, F99 is chased away, hungry but unhurt.

0:48:340:48:39

Surprisingly, over the next few weeks she appears to put on weight.

0:48:450:48:49

It's just a hunch,

0:48:540:48:55

but Mark and his team suspect she may have figured out how to hunt.

0:48:550:48:59

No sign of her, huh?

0:49:040:49:05

The only way to be sure is to fit her with a GPS collar and watch

0:49:070:49:11

for the telltale cluster of data points that could indicate a kill.

0:49:110:49:16

Gorgeous. That's what we want to eat.

0:49:160:49:19

So, they set a baited trap to lure her in.

0:49:190:49:23

Nice little treasure for her.

0:49:230:49:25

There she goes.

0:49:260:49:27

The lure works.

0:49:290:49:30

There.

0:49:320:49:33

OK, you ready? On three - one, two, three.

0:49:380:49:41

Once she's been anaesthetised, she's kept wet to stop her overheating.

0:49:410:49:46

Now Mark can fit her collar and check her health.

0:49:460:49:49

So, F99 looks way better than I expected.

0:49:490:49:52

She's thin, she's small,

0:49:520:49:54

she's essentially a stunted version of a mountain lion,

0:49:540:49:58

just barely half of what I expected her to weigh at this time.

0:49:580:50:01

-16.

-16. She's about...

0:50:030:50:08

36 pounds.

0:50:080:50:10

But she looks really well.

0:50:110:50:12

She's actually got, you know, musculature developing.

0:50:120:50:18

She's all right.

0:50:180:50:20

There's one development that is a particularly good sign.

0:50:200:50:24

Here her adult teeth have begun to come in.

0:50:250:50:28

They're not full-size yet,

0:50:280:50:30

but they're big enough to do some hunting.

0:50:300:50:32

Having confirmed that F99 is healthy

0:50:360:50:39

and has the weaponry to make a kill,

0:50:390:50:42

the team follow her movements closely over the next few days.

0:50:420:50:45

Almost immediately a suspicious cluster of points

0:50:490:50:53

draws Mark into the field.

0:50:530:50:55

Yes! She's killed something. Look at the fur!

0:51:010:51:05

It's the remains of a coyote pup, which the orphan has picked clean.

0:51:070:51:12

That's the tail. She even gave a good chew on that.

0:51:140:51:18

This is a big deal.

0:51:180:51:20

She killed something with teeth, something that could fight back.

0:51:200:51:25

This is a turning point. She might just make it

0:51:250:51:28

and survive the winter.

0:51:280:51:29

F99 has surprised us at every turn.

0:51:350:51:38

The fact that she learned to hunt on her own.

0:51:430:51:46

And survived in a landscape with predators and people

0:51:480:51:51

and all sorts of other dangers.

0:51:510:51:53

Throughout this entire year, she has persevered.

0:51:580:52:00

I remember one of the bits of video that we caught,

0:52:020:52:04

she's under this tree, in this vast meadow, and it's pouring rain.

0:52:040:52:09

And there she is, this tiny little mountain lion, alone.

0:52:150:52:19

And you just feel how alone she is and so...

0:52:210:52:26

it's warming to see when she's doing well.

0:52:260:52:28

F99 is not the only one at a turning point.

0:52:330:52:37

The scientists of the Teton Cougar Project are presenting

0:52:430:52:47

their findings to the wider scientific community.

0:52:470:52:51

This young female still lives locally and is doing quite well.

0:52:510:52:55

Mark's work is pretty amazing because he's using new

0:52:550:52:58

technology to really teach us new things about this keystone predator.

0:52:580:53:02

So many things that we haven't known about cougars that are

0:53:020:53:06

coming to light through this work. It's just astonishing.

0:53:060:53:09

A lot of the things that we're learning shows us

0:53:090:53:12

how highly social cougars are and the cougar to cougar interactions

0:53:120:53:15

are just extremely powerful.

0:53:150:53:18

The project's work is also solving the riddle behind the dramatic

0:53:210:53:24

drop in mountain lion numbers. There are two governing factors.

0:53:240:53:31

So, as wolves increased in the system,

0:53:310:53:33

all three age classes dropped in survivorship.

0:53:330:53:36

The reintroduction of wolves has had a dramatic effect

0:53:390:53:43

on a kitten's chances of making it to adult.

0:53:430:53:47

Only 20 kittens out of 100 survive until they're 18 months old,

0:53:470:53:52

and most of them are killed by other predators.

0:53:520:53:55

When it comes to adult mountain lions,

0:53:570:53:59

one factor accounts for a staggering 49% of all deaths in the study area.

0:53:590:54:05

GUNSHOT

0:54:050:54:07

Hunting.

0:54:090:54:10

The dual impacts of competition with the new wolves in a place

0:54:100:54:14

where you already had existing human harvest on mountain lions is

0:54:140:54:18

resulting in a decline in this population.

0:54:180:54:21

Mark's figures show that the only realistic way to stabilise

0:54:230:54:27

the mountain lion numbers is by dramatically reducing

0:54:270:54:30

the amount of hunting.

0:54:300:54:32

But striking a balance between the interests of conservationists

0:54:360:54:40

and hunters is likely to be difficult.

0:54:400:54:43

The agents that are responsible for managing hunting quotas

0:54:430:54:46

generates much of its income from the sale of hunting licences.

0:54:460:54:51

We've really worked to use

0:54:520:54:54

the best available information

0:54:540:54:56

to use decades

0:54:560:54:58

and centuries of expertise

0:54:580:55:00

and education in order to learn about the wildlife populations

0:55:000:55:04

that we're responsible to manage correctly.

0:55:040:55:07

It would be extremely controversial

0:55:080:55:10

if we got rid of hunting in the state of Wyoming or in other areas.

0:55:100:55:15

F99 is now a year and three months old,

0:55:230:55:27

which means she could legally be hunted.

0:55:270:55:30

But for the time being,

0:55:330:55:35

she's managed to avoid both hunters and wolves.

0:55:350:55:38

She's sitting now. I can really see her.

0:55:520:55:56

Front part of her looks good.

0:55:560:55:58

But I can tell she's finding it hard.

0:56:000:56:02

She's lost some weight in the last month.

0:56:020:56:05

She killed a porcupine recently

0:56:070:56:08

and I think I can make out a quill right here.

0:56:080:56:12

And that's concerning, because porcupine quills,

0:56:170:56:19

they have barbs in one direction and so the more you move your skin,

0:56:190:56:24

they go deeper and deeper and deeper, they naturally won't come out.

0:56:240:56:28

She's going to have to pull it out.

0:56:280:56:30

But...if any cat could survive, this is her.

0:56:310:56:36

I think she's going to make it.

0:56:450:56:47

Mark's hopes prove ill-founded.

0:57:090:57:12

Two weeks later,

0:57:160:57:18

F99 died from internal injuries caused by the porcupine's quills.

0:57:180:57:22

In contrast, F61's daughter, Frostbite,

0:57:390:57:43

has successfully established her territory, avoiding hunters

0:57:430:57:47

and predators, enduring freezing temperatures

0:57:470:57:51

and making enough kills to survive.

0:57:510:57:53

Thanks to her and all the mountain lions

0:57:590:58:02

that the Teton Cougar Project has followed over the years,

0:58:020:58:05

our understanding of these cats has been revolutionised.

0:58:050:58:09

Their long-term future, however, depends on how we apply this

0:58:130:58:17

new-found knowledge.

0:58:170:58:18

For Frostbite and the other mountain lions here,

0:58:230:58:26

life remains on the edge.

0:58:260:58:30

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS