When i was there in Feb the naturalist was telling us they had radio collored 2 mt. lions and realized they were now crossing the Colorado at phantom area…perhaps on the bridges…well last week i saw a poster up saying lions were being seen on the Bright Angle Trail now… anyone been there will remember how many deer were there and how unafraid of hikers they had become… That may soon change.
meadow ed
There are now 4 radio-collared mountain lions (also called cougars or panthers) who use Grand Canyon National Park as part of their territories. The lion near the BA trail was seen near a deer carcass. The carcass is now gone and I have not heard of any more sightings in that area. No one seems to be saying that there are any more mountain lions than there were in the past. They are just studying them more so we hear more about them. There have not been any reports of human-lion interactions. The deer and elk populations seem to keep growing. The ecosystem could probably use a few more predators to keep everything in balance.
Turtle Walking
I saw cougar tracks along the Hermit trail on my first trek in that region in 1969. Nothing new to see tracks in various places. On a river trip in 1971, we noted tracks on the river beach and some members of our party reported hearing cat screams on night.
J. D. Cool