Mountain lion heads 600 miles north
By Wayne Ortman, The Associated Press | Posted: Friday, October 10, 2008
SIOUX FALLS -- Another Black Hills mountain lion has gone the distance.
A subadult lion wearing a radio collar from South Dakota was killed this week nearly 600 miles away in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Four years ago, a collared lion from the Hills traveled 666 miles to Oklahoma, where it was hit by a train.
Jonathan Jenks, a wildlife professor at South Dakota State University, said there are no other documented cases of mountain lions traveling that far.
"That doesn't necessarily mean that it's unusual because we're learning more and more about these critters," said Jenks, who's leading a study of some 80 radio-collared cats in the Black Hills.
Wildlife specialists say young lions -- mostly males -- are being driven out of the Black Hills by older lions that protect their territory. Where they go and why is one of the objects of the tracking study, which now includes collars that can pinpoint a lion's location using GPS coordinates.
"This was one of the first GPS collars on a subadult. Unfortunately, it failed while it was still in Custer State Park (in April). Then what happens is, you just hope it shows up again," Jenks said.
Had the transmitter been working, researchers could have plotted the route that took the lion nearly due north from the Black Hills.
Police in Saskatoon killed the cougar in a residential area after deciding it was a threat to public safety.
In brief
Is it a record? No, four years ago, a Black Hills mountain lion traveled 666 miles to Oklahoma.
Did it take U.S. 85? Maybe. Experts say the lion likely traveled north through the South and North Dakota pines, but its GPS device malfunctioned.
Will we ever know? State officials hope to determine the exact route in the coming weeks.
How many are left? Thare an estimated 220 to 280 lions in the state.
A subadult lion wearing a radio collar from South Dakota was killed this week nearly 600 miles away in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Four years ago, a collared lion from the Hills traveled 666 miles to Oklahoma, where it was hit by a train.
Jonathan Jenks, a wildlife professor at South Dakota State University, said there are no other documented cases of mountain lions traveling that far.
"That doesn't necessarily mean that it's unusual because we're learning more and more about these critters," said Jenks, who's leading a study of some 80 radio-collared cats in the Black Hills.
Wildlife specialists say young lions -- mostly males -- are being driven out of the Black Hills by older lions that protect their territory. Where they go and why is one of the objects of the tracking study, which now includes collars that can pinpoint a lion's location using GPS coordinates.
"This was one of the first GPS collars on a subadult. Unfortunately, it failed while it was still in Custer State Park (in April). Then what happens is, you just hope it shows up again," Jenks said.
Had the transmitter been working, researchers could have plotted the route that took the lion nearly due north from the Black Hills.
Police in Saskatoon killed the cougar in a residential area after deciding it was a threat to public safety.
In brief
Is it a record? No, four years ago, a Black Hills mountain lion traveled 666 miles to Oklahoma.
Did it take U.S. 85? Maybe. Experts say the lion likely traveled north through the South and North Dakota pines, but its GPS device malfunctioned.
Will we ever know? State officials hope to determine the exact route in the coming weeks.
How many are left? Thare an estimated 220 to 280 lions in the state.
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