Mountain lions make roads safer

“As large predator populations recover in North America, they may be making roads safer for people as well as helping restore ecosystems. A recent study on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula found that deer were 15 percent less likely to linger near roads in areas frequented by mountain lions, reducing the chances of deer-vehicle collisions by an estimated 67 percent,” report The Doomslayer.

Yale Environment 360 explains:

Mountain lions in Washington state may be cutting down on traffic accidents by scaring deer away from roads, new research finds.

Deer often avoid open spaces, including roads, when predators are nearby. But while it has long been suggested that predators might tamp down on traffic collisions with prey, that has never been demonstrated in areas where big predators are well established, researchers say…

Researchers found that where mountain lions were active, deer avoided roads. Overall, deer in those areas were 15 percent less likely to be found near roads, which led to a 67 percent drop in the odds of a traffic accident involving deer. The findings were published in the journal Current Biology.

“A mother puma with three kittens was recently spotted in Minnesota, the first evidence in over a century of pumas breeding in the state,” reported The Doomslayer.

Bobcats recently returned to New Jersey after being absent from the state for a half century.

75 percent fewer cats are being killed in animal shelters.

Lions are proliferating in the Indian state of Gujarat. Cheetas recently returned to India.

Jaguars are growing in number in Mexico and Argentina.