Summary of 2001/2002 Mountain Lion (Puma concolor) Monitoring in Saguaro National Park, Tucson Mountain District - Final Report

Haynes, Lisa

With this report we summarize results from a project to monitor mountain lions and bobcats, using infrared-triggered cameras, in Saguaro National Park - Tucson Mountain district (SNP-TMD) from September 2008 through May 2009 (with additional data through July 2009). The project initially called for six cameras deployed at sites likely to produce mountain lion photos, based on previous reconnaissance. We increased the number of cameras to 13 at 11 sites. At two sites we deployed additional cameras opposite the initial cameras to obtain both left and right-sided photos of lions. We documented 23 photos of mountain lions, 46 photos of bobcats, and hundreds of photos of other wildlife (and humans and dogs). At a very minimum we detected at least three mountain lions: a female, one subadult male, and possibly another subadult or adult male, based on size and pelage. There may be as many as eight individual lions photographed, based on subtle differences in size and pelage characteristics, however that estimate is probably too high, given the general uniformity of mountain lions, variability in photographs, and the relative small size of the study area. This project is a subset of a larger, longer-term, Pima County-funded project designed to monitor mountain lions throughout the Tucson Mountains and surrounding potential wildlife corridors. At the end of that project in June 2010 we will conduct a more intensive analysis of all lion photos in an attempt to determine mountain lion density. The presence of one or more subadult lions is a hopeful sign that this population is reproducing and that there may be connectivity with other populations in the surrounding mountain ranges.