Reintroducing Mountain lions to the NorthEast? Eastern Mountain Lion Project pt i

[@benjamintorke7990]

They may eventually get there by themselves. Mountain lions seem to be reestablishing in the Ouchitas and Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri, where they have been absent for a century, and quite a few males have made their way from the Black Hills of South Dakota, across the Plains, into the forests of northern Minnesota and beyond, but so far no females.

[@ColeAbel]

@@benjamintorke7990 great point! I will be expanding on this in pt 2 to make it clear I’m suggesting increasing habitat connectivity and making it a goal to have these animals in the ecosystem, not translocation.

[@georgehanson2978]

Would take a very long time.

[@brookewood1962]

I am from Texas and love mountain lions. They are essential for a healthy ecosystem. Unfortunately people in texas hunt them because of ranching.

[@johnjohn3241]

Piano noise is too loud.

[@domturiace670]

turned off cause of this.

[@KendrickMan]

Just a note on some areas having deer populations with no predation pressure: You'd think that would mean more deer, but I personally see less deer in fully natural ecosystems. On the other hand, the areas I see the most deer are near towns and farmlands because they eat our crops and compost. If it's assumed that more untouched areas have larger populations, the population estimates are probably being overstated.

[@rypatmackrock]

As a Californian that grew up with the knowledge of mountain lions; I used to be afraid of encountering one at night from mountain biking. Now I revere them as native Apex predators, along with wolves and bears. There are also the eastern Timberwolves in Ontario Canada that are reliable Whitetail deer predators, and possibly black bears. The difference is in their hunting style that all reestablish the natural pressures that would check the Whitetail deer herds so they wouldn’t spread that parasite to the moose, until the predators hunt the moose anyway. Either way, the Yellowstone wolf project has always been the textbook example for the importance of native apex predators; while the red wolves in the great Smokies are the cautionary flip-side, with an ecosystem that hasn’t been fully rewilded to accept the Apex predators that once lived there. The key I have found, is to have a lopsided ecosystem in favor of the predators, like an over abundance of the deer; all facilitating the dynamics and processes of the food web, and the ecosystem.

[@BigJFindAWay]

Black bears are not apex predators. At all.

[@rypatmackrock]

Unless it is primarily them as a resident Apex predator with the absence of Brown Bears, and other Apex predators that would easily displace their dominance. That is why I have lately been using the term resident Apex predator to describe which ever species is indeed the resident Apex predator of a local ecosystem. It applies to mountain lions in the western US, aside from Yellowstone and the southwest where jaguars have been found, and and as far as I know, black bears in the great smoky mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. As I described the attempt to reestablish the red wolves as Apex predators in that ecosystem, what was done subsequently was to allow elk to be reintroduced as the herbivores, and since black bears are resident large omnivores and took to hunting the elk anyway, that makes the black bears resident Apex predators aside from Birds of prey. There is also the undeniable footage of a black bear wrestling with a feral pig, and winning in the Smokies. That is why I use the term “resident” Apex predator to acknowledge which predator takes that job in it’s local ecosystem, unless a stronger and more dominant predator displaces them. another commentator once reminded me that the Apex predator dominance hierarchy goes like this. For black bears, it is grizzly and brown Bears. For mountain lions, it is jaguars in the southwest, and for coyotes of course, it is wolves. Ecology has become a passion of mine lately, enough for me to contemplate a career change into it. These videos, the savory Institute with its methods of regenerative, livestock agriculture, conservation stories, rewilding projects and all tying it back to the ecosystems enchant me.

[@SuperVlerik]

In the late 1990s there were multiple cougar sightings (farm kills, deer kills, tracks in mud and in snow, visuals by locals, and even local wildlife workers....all in Strafford Vermont. I think they have moved back in, but remain cryptic.

[@B.Duncan]

Mountain lions, and/or cougars, are magnificent and beautiful. If I'm ever unalived by one, rest assured that my last words were, "Here kitty, kitty." Also, the piano music was louder than your narration.

[@ianspingle8865]

Anticosti island in quebec is severely overpopulated with deer don't have enough hunters to control the numbers they are eating themselves out of house and home every few years there's a massive die off due to starvation in the winter. This place would be ideal for lion's lots of great habitat and food ,few people and no competition from other predators no wolves, coyotes or bears 🦁🦌🌱🌳🌲

[@ianspingle8865]

Also anticosti island used to have a healthy moose and black bear population but since whitetails were introduced for sport hunting they have overbrowsed the forest and starved them all to extinction.

[@SorenAlba54]

I remember hearing about a few cougars that managed to trek across the country and made it as far as upstate New York or Pennsylvania but, of course, they were shot down. They brought this up for the same reason this video was mentioning. For someone who has lived in South Florida all their life whilst learning about the Florida Panther, this concerns me too. Fortunately, because of a single female panther that swam a river that separates the north and south of the state, many more followed suit and they’re beginning to repopulate; making it the first time that panthers has been there in over 70+ years. Although they more than capable of reaching such places, we have to make sure that they’re truly settled enough to establish a healthy population and cause a chain reaction to that ecosystem. Therefore, in this case, human intervention is needed. The one thing that I can hope for is that when we receive reports about cougars appearing somewhere around Connecticut or Vermont, we leave them be this time.

[@noName-q6n9b]

I'm in PA, and a hunter. Wild life conservation, the health of the ecosystem and the health of the animals is very important here. We have lots of deer, but, I wouldn’t call it Over populated. We have LOTS of hunters here (in my area), and the potential of overpopulation of deer and the negative effects are well know, to the tune that people here are very familiar with our numbers and will harvest more doe to intentionally take the numbers down. This also provides better mature Buck hunting. Mountain Lions introduced in areas that don't have very many hunters can 100% help. But, I'd assume the mountain lions would make their way to areas that don't need them. Or we don't have a problem here, and we don't necessarily want your mountain lions... More people educated on hunting/more people hunting can also help (i'm sure not 100% of the time though) It is a great fun activity to learn more about nature and harvest healthy organic meat, and means less demand for animals in farms living in poor conditions.

[@briancaldwell6799]

....mt. lion will be exterminated by the first poacher that gets a shot at it......zero life expectancy here....

[@Channelbermeja010]

Yeah I live in Pittsburgh; lived all over PA. I can say with certainty do not bring the giant people eating monsters to PA. Getting eaten by a mountain lion would be horrific. We do not need or want that in any conceivable way. KEEP THEM OUT…

[@noName-q6n9b]

@@Channelbermeja010 Sure, I can get used to it, but Older people, Children. Screw that. Out west it's way different. in most areas, Out homes out here are spread out, IN the woods, The cats would be right in it all, literally behind your house when your wife takes the trash out.

[@jancyvargheese5351]

@@noName-q6n9bare there wolves in Pennsylvania?

[@noName-q6n9b]

@@jancyvargheese5351 There was in the 1800's. but the coyotes here (and east coast in general) have some wolf DNA

[@unseeninja]

I live in Southern Ontario, We have some (very limited) mountain lions/cougars here. Not officially of course, if the general public knew they'd freak out, but farmers and hunters have seen traces and pictures on trail cams. I've never heard anyone complain. They coyote population usually takes the blame for livestock loss since we have too many of those.

[@specteractual1]

I can say with 100% certainty there are mt lions in the north east i have family in Maine that have pics of them in there yard

[@tarnishedknight730]

Thumbs down for the really, really bad audio. Your speaking and background volume is all over the place. The background piano completely drowns out what you are saying in several places. Try redoing the audio so you can be heard.

[@winstonalan5731]

In southeastern Ontario apparently some cougars were introduced in the early to mid 80s. I don't know how many or where, but as of today they are so rarely seen the effort may not have been very successful. They may only exist in some remote and hard to reach locations, and I've heard no realistic estimates of how many there are, but they definitely are around. I've never seen one in the wild myself.

[@LadyhawksLairDotCom]

And you likely won't unless you set up camera traps or other cameras. They're elusive. A mountain lion will see you a hundred times before you see him once. My father used to hunt mountain lions that went after livestock. They're everywhere here. Sometimes they attack livestock and pets, but mostly they go after deer. Even though we have so very many, attacks on humans are vanishingly rare. Every time I take walks in nature, I assume I'm being watched by mountain lions, but it doesn't bother me in the least.

[@Greenmahn333]

👍

[@jameskelman9856]

Lynx as well , they are serious predators that should have an impact on deer population

[@bigDbigDbigD]

I would be happy to see cougars anywhere hunters cannot acccess

[@martinclayton7260]

We could do with a few of them here in the UK!

[@safron2442]

Hey Cole, this is a topic I am very interested in and I believe that the key to success will ultimately lie in good communication and understanding. Could I contact you to talk about this topic more in depth?

[@ColeAbel]

DM me on instagram

[@safron2442]

@@ColeAbel messaged

[@dinkohrvat344]

Large predators kill ill and old animals This is critical in a healthy ecosystem

[@dilaton1]

Is there a go-fund-me for reintroducing a bevy of panthers somewhere near Mar-a-Lago?

[@Zbigniew-z2z]

A co z pumą florydzką ,podobno ich populacja rośnie i kieruje się na północ?!

[@jameswilliams2075]

I will say they do have predators. Black Bear will hunt them and eat there fawns along with coyotes eating fawns and adult deer, especially since they will hunt in packs and some are coywolves.

[@ColeAbel]

@@jameswilliams2075 Good point! Though coyotes and black bear are not consistently able to prey on adult white tails. Fawn predation done by these two species accounts for nearly all predation other than via hunting. These animals don’t hold the same ecological niche as the lions.

[@jameswilliams2075]

@ColeAbel I do agree that the stealth and size of the cat will increase the adult predation in most habitats the deer inhabit that an official return of the cat will definitely make a difference in the deer adult deer cause no nowhere will truly be safe for the adults

[@BigJFindAWay]

Black bear may take fawns. Not adults.

[@jameswilliams2075]

@BigJFindAWay they will kill any adult they can catch, usually the injured or sick or any unable to escape

[@salamandiusbraveheart4183]

Get a microphone please

[@calvinblaine]

East Ky. has always had big cats. Trail cams, bodies tell the truth on and on.

[@georgehanson2978]

Not accurate. But the game wardens there did kill one when it made his way into the state eventhough it was no threat.

[@Bettencourt_]

Enjoy your pets while you have them, stay safe hiking and biking

[@j27340]

There is a Reason they were eradicated,

[@jameswilliams2075]

Ya, by old farmers who thought everything that eats meat was out to ruin their lives and to remove all perceived threats to people they did the same thing that happend to the Tasmanian tiger to many predators from wolves to brown bears it was the British colonial mindset that nature must be concerd and turned into farm land wich they thought was how the world should be like but that's not how it works.

[@georgehanson2978]

Yes, human ignorance.

[@Channelbermeja010]

Downvote. Hell no don’t bring giant carnivorous cats into our woods so they can prey on our families wtf. Are you all insane? This is extremely bad.

[@ColeAbel]

@@Channelbermeja010 This video is about habitat connectivity and the fact that the species is naturally going to repopulate and a plan for conservation and management is needed. “Reintroduction” is not always translocation.

[@georgehanson2978]

Threats to humans are nominal. More people are killed by bees or domestic dogs than mountain lions.