We are conducting surveys, monitoring, and research on cougars (puma, mountain lion) on the Ladder Ranch in south-central New Mexico. Here, cougars are of particular interest given their effects on state-endangered desert bighorn sheep and other valuable big game. These projects are also resources for training and education, most notably through the Cougar Field Workshop.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006


To continue with a description of Sarah's work, she tackled a combination of tasks. First, she produced a summary report that outlined the kills and movements of a cougar previously collared with a GPS collar on this project. Second, she worked with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to produce a habitat model for cougar management for the state. This project is ongoing. Finally, she began work on a collaborative project with the Turner Endangered Species Fund which will examine habitat selectivity of bighorn sheep relative to kill sites and habitat selectivity of cougars. The picture above is a map generated from 3 years of data on bighorn ewe distribution during the lambing season, January through June and is the sort of data that Sarah will be using for her analysis.

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