California Cougar Project

Overview

Panthera’s California Cougar Project was founded in 2008 to study and address controversial issues facing California's cougar populations. Besides Florida, California is the only state where cougars are not hunted, and debates have ensued questioning whether humans and cougars can live together. Now in its third year, this project focuses on conserving cougar habitat, educating the California public about the benefits of cougar conservation, and mitigating human-cougar conflict.

Balance

The cougar is a "keystone" species that helps maintain ecosystem-balance. The California Cougar Project is identifying and conserving cougar habitat that will benefit other species too, and help to maintain healthy, functioning ecosystems for all residents, human and animal alike, in the state of California.

Competing for Land

While nearly half of California’s 99 million acres are considered suitable cougar habitat, California is also home to a growing population of 36 million people. Like many species around the globe, cougars are living in human-dominated landscapes, and losing more and more of their natural habitat every year. Panthera is surveying cougar habitat throughout the state to identify suitable areas around which to develop protected cougar corridors, so that cougars can move safely between core populations.
Researching Cougar Habitats

California landscapeThe state of California covers more than 99 million acres (400,000 km2). Of that, approximately half of the state is considered occupied cougar habitat. In addition, cougars are competing with a growing population of more than 35 million people. Although jaguars and grizzly bears once roamed the state, both of those carnivores are now extinct, leaving the cougar and the black bear as the only two large carnivores in the state, and the cougar as the only obligate large carnivore.

Dr. Howard Quigley examines cougar cubIn California in the 1970’s, the cougar was the center of controversy, eventually becoming protected under the provisions of Proposition 117 that outlawed cougar sport/trophy hunting and set aside funds for cougar habitat protection. Since that time, surprisingly little effort has been made to develop a comprehensive approach to cougar conservation in the state of California. However, recent movement in a few focal areas indicates new interest and may provide some fruitful ground for cougar conservation. Given the size of the state, the level of human development, and the amount of cougar habitat still available, there is a strong potential for high-impact conservation of this big cat.

Howard Quigley, Executive Director of Panthera's Jaguar Program and cougar expert, leads Panthera’s California Cougar Project, which was initiated in March 2008. The first year of the program focused on gathering critical information about cougars in California and forming strategic partnerships with people, organizations and agencies active in cougar conservation in the state. Dr. Quigley and his team also identified key threats to cougar populations, and determined the largest challenges to California’s cougars are loss and fragmentation of habitat and lack of public education and knowledge about this species.

Dr. Howard Quigley tracking a cougar's location and movementsPanthera is working with key partners to develop a better understanding of California’s wild landscapes, particularly important habitat for cougar corridors. Cougars are a “keystone” species in California, meaning  as a top predator, they help to maintain ecosystem function and their presence greatly affects the delicate balance of California’s ecosystems. One of the California Cougar Project's main goals is to identify and test corridor characteristics that have especially high potential for cougars, and to mitigate human-cougar conflict, and increase tolerance of people, who share their homes with this largely misunderstood big cat.

Read Panthera's Cougar Report Card: The State of the Cougar.

Click here to: Meet the Cougar

cougar Programs
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Cougar sitting in tree California Cougar Project | Researching Cougar Habitats

Panthera on the Ground

Dr. Luke Hunter and Dr. Howard Quigley lead a team to re-collar a young male cougar

In February 2010, Panthera’s President, Dr. Luke Hunter, and Jaguar Program Director, Dr. Howard Quigley, led a team of scientists through the snowy hills of Wyoming to re-collar a young male cougar that Quigley has been monitoring for the past four years. The team took hair samples from the cougar to learn more about his diet, and measured and weighed the cougar to assess his overall health. After a comprehensive check-up, the team replaced the cougar’s collar and released him back into the wild, where his movements will be closely tracked to help determine his movement, ecological requirements, and population dynamics, until his next check-up.

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How you can help cougars right now: