Help to make this valuable research possible.

Support the GSE Cougar Project in Southern Utah

The GSE Cougar Project is a partnership with the Felidae Conservation Fund, Utah Mountain Lion Conservation, and a collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management and the Grand Staircase Escalante Partners. This project utilizes noninvasive sampling, tracking, and camera trapping techniques to better understand cougar populations in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The GSE Cougar Project will look at population density, health, kitten survival rates, behavioral expression, and social organization. We will compare populations in Southern Utah and Southwestern Montana as we learn more about how mountain lions differ in unique ecosystems. We plan to deliver a film that shares the research and explores the lives of the lions in this beautiful and unique landscape along with education and outreach to help local communities live in greater harmony with these elusive predators.

Currently, mountain lions can be hunted and trapped year round in Utah with very few restrictions. Only nursing mothers and spotted kittens are protected. This is not science-based management and is a stark departure from the designation as a game species that afforded cougars the protection of hunting seasons, harvest limits, and penalties for poaching. This new level of hunting pressure has the very real potential to negatively impact populations. This is especially true in desert regions where cougar density on the landscape is already low.

If you would like to donate to help us better understand mountain lion populations in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, please donate at the link above. Please leave a comment to specify that your donation is for the GSE Cougar Project. Felidae Conservation Fund is the fiscal sponsor of this project and provides financial oversight and reporting. Your donation is fully tax deductible and will go directly to making this valuable work possible.