I raised my binoculars, anticipating to get a view of a mule deer. I typically noticed them on this little valley, and once I noticed the tan type, I knew what it was. Or thought I knew. As a result of as I centered on the animal, one thing appeared off. After which it moved. It had an extended tail.
A mountain lion. Whereas the encounter solely lasted seconds – the massive cat rapidly bounded away – it stays one in every of my favourite wildlife sightings.
I noticed this lion within the canyon nation of southwestern Idaho. It might have been a spectacular sight, however nobody questioned me. Mountain lions are pretty widespread, if seldom seen, in Idaho.
On the opposite facet of the nation, mountain lion sightings evoke a fiery ardour. Many fervently consider mountain lions stalk a lot of the jap United States, together with probably the most densely populated state, New Jersey.
Idaho’s Owyhee County, the place I noticed my first mountain lion, is bigger than the complete state of New Jersey. And it’s residence to fewer than 13,000 individuals. There’s loads of area for a mountain lion to cover. In New Jersey, with 9.25 million individuals? A lot much less so.
Nonetheless, sightings persist. Are there mountain lions in New Jersey? Is it even a distant risk?
The Japanese Lion
I’ve adopted the arguments over jap mountain lions for many years. I grew up within the woods of Pennsylvania and know the robust opinions this subject generates. The truth is, the primary outside story I used to be ever paid to write down – for Pennsylvania Afield (now Pennsylvania Out of doors Information) in 1991 – was about mountain lion rumors in Pennsylvania.
I discovered it an enchanting topic. You possibly can hear some wild tales sitting round small-town bars. The state sport company is unloading truckloads of mountain lions at evening. Not solely are there mountain lions, but additionally black panthers. That form of factor.
However not all lion incidents may very well be so simply dismissed, informed by severe hunters, naturalists and loggers. These have been individuals who spent plenty of time within the woods and weren’t susceptible to Bigfoot-style tall tales.
Eric Olsen, director of conservation applications for The Nature Conservancy in New Jersey, has heard the tales, too. “I’ve talked to extra individuals who consider they’ve seen mountain lions then I can depend,” says Olsen. “It does make you suppose. However I’m a skeptic that there are mountain lions right here in New Jersey.”
Mountain lions as soon as ranged throughout a lot of the US, however they have been eradicated from most elements of the East by the early 1800s. The inhabitants in Florida has managed to hold on. Elsewhere, precise proof – pictures, digital camera entice footage, verifiable indicators – stays slim.
However there are precise situations that gasoline hope. In 2011, a lion was confirmed to be in Connecticut. It had roamed from South Dakota by means of the Midwest and East. (The complete story is masterfully informed in Will Stolzenburg’s e-book, Coronary heart of a Lion). With many western populations of mountain lions thriving, people may disperse and discover plentiful white-tailed deer within the East. However may they survive and thrive there?
The Connecticut lion couldn’t: it was killed by a automobile strike.
Chris Pague / TNC
“There are locations in New Jersey sufficiently big to maintain a mountain lion or two,” says Olsen. “However there are nonetheless individuals who reside in these landscapes. There are nonetheless roads. I might like to suppose that New Jersey may maintain mountain lions. However the laborious proof has not been discovered.”
He notes that biologists have utilized scat-sniffing canine to search out proof of bobcats (extra on this species later). The Nature Conservancy and different organizations have wildlife cameras at road-stream crossings, at preserves and in different areas utilized by wildlife. And nonetheless: no proof.
I’m a skeptic too, in no small half due to my expertise with mountain lions within the western United States. They’re actually elusive and tough to identify. Even the place they’re widespread, you hardly ever if ever catch a glimpse of 1. They typically roam in a number of the largest wildernesses and nationwide forests within the continental United States.
Whereas sightings might not be widespread, individuals do see them, {photograph} them, discover simply verifiable kills and tracks and scat. Animals get killed on the highway. There’s by no means any doubt. They’re right here.
So what precisely is occurring with mountain lion sightings within the jap U.S.?
A Case of Mistaken Identification?
I pose the query to my pal and former Nature Conservancy forester Mike Eckley. Eckley has spent years on forest initiatives in Penn’s Woods, together with the realm within the central a part of the state often known as the “Pennsylvania Wilds.” He tells me he’s by no means seen any proof, both, however has heard many tales from dependable sources.
“A key factor to recollect is that there are lots of people who’re into unique, wild pets,” says Eckley, now a lecturer in forestry at Penn State-Dubois. “Typically these animals can escape or be deliberately launched. Quite a lot of sightings are literally close to city areas. Individuals may see a mountain lion that’s a launched pet, after which these animals are inclined to rapidly perish.”
It brings again a reminiscence from my Pennsylvania youth, when my grandparents took me to go to a pal who stored a pet mountain lion of their yard. I recall the fence made me a bit of nervous, and few would have been stunned if that cat escaped. Certainly, plenty of actually bizarre animal sightings across the globe are because of animals escaped or launched from personal zoos and sport farms.
Jim Thomson
However maybe a extra widespread purpose for all of the mountain lions is straightforward misidentification. Bobcat populations have elevated considerably, an enormous conservation success. In New Jersey, bobcats have been extirpated however reintroduced within the Nineteen Seventies. “There at the moment are an estimated 350 bobcats in New Jersey,” says Olsen. “They’ve discovered to dwell inside human-inhabited landscapes.”
They’re additionally shy and elusive, however individuals do encounter them. And it’s commonplace for individuals to mistake them for mountain lions. “In case you’re seeing a bobcat for the primary time, they’re bigger than you suppose,” Olsen says. “I can perceive how you can suppose it was a mountain lion.”
Eckley agrees. “I believe misidentification is the most typical clarification,” he says. “Quite a lot of instances, whether or not in an precise sighting or a digital camera entice, there’s no body of reference. It seems like a very large cat.”
In case you’re questioning, there are a few issues that may assist. First, confer with my earlier discipline information to generally misidentified wildlife. Particularly, this rule: “If unsure, it’s in all probability the least thrilling choice.” You merely should rule out bobcat earlier than you may ID a cat as a cougar.
There’s one actually easy distinguishing attribute: the tail. The bobcat, as its title implies, has a bobbed tail, fairly quick and stubby. The mountain lion has an unmistakably lengthy tail.
Assessments like this invariably make some individuals indignant. Each Olsen and Eckley be aware they haven’t dominated out the potential for mountain lions. They only need to see laborious proof.
Might Lions Return to the East?
To me, probably the most compelling query will not be “Do mountain lions exist in New Jersey?” It’s: “Might they?”
I not too long ago fished for brook trout in New Jersey’s portion of the Delaware Water Hole Nationwide Recreation Space. As I walked alongside lovely mountain streams, I noticed tracks of black bear and whitetail, and caught lovely native trout. At instances, it felt tough to consider I used to be so near thousands and thousands of individuals.
Olsen notes that New Jersey is projected to be the primary state within the nation to succeed in useful buildout, that means almost all land has been developed or conserved. However he notes that conservation has additionally been remarkably profitable in such a densely populated state. New Jersey’s Inexperienced Acres program and lots of non-profit organizations, cities and counties have performed vital roles in preserving land.
TNC has protected greater than 60,000 acres in New Jersey, no small process in a small, extremely populated state with excessive property values. Currently, establishing corridors between conserved lands has taken on new significance with species needing area to maneuver amidst dense roadways and difficult local weather situations. One such effort is defending a 96,000-acre hall for bobcats to maneuver, often known as “Bobcat Alley.”
“We’re defending forests, fields and farmlands, preserving the most effective of what’s left for nature so species have the power to thrive,” says Olsen. “After which we take it the subsequent step: how can we join protected areas in different states within the Appalachians?”
TNC’s work within the Appalachians focuses closely on this connectivity. That offers species room to adapt and roam.
Mountain lions are well-known roamers. They’re territorial, so younger animals typically strike out in quest of new territory. In the event that they got here east, they’d want these related lands. And so they’d want prey. “The prey base is there,” says Olsen. “Our ecosystem is out of steadiness with too many deer. The forests are struggling in consequence. The mountain lions would have loads to eat.”
New Jersey’s Bobcat Alley
As soon as almost extinct in New Jersey, bobcats try to make a comeback. To outlive, they want room to roam.
As such, the jap mountain lion have to be thought of not a creature of the previous or of fantasy, however a creature of hope.
“I deliver plenty of skepticism to the subject, however I additionally do have hope,” says Olsen. “I hope that we’ll have finished a adequate job of defending and connecting habitat that there may very well be a time when lions arrive on their very own – and survive and thrive right here.”
For now, bobcats stay New Jersey’s solely native wild feline, and even they’ll lose as a lot as 25 % of their annual inhabitants to vehicles. Defending and connecting strategic land in New Jersey and the Appalachian states is one of the best ways to make sure they proceed to have a house – and perhaps even to offer large cats with longer tails an opportunity to outlive within the East.
