The discovery offers a new understanding of how cougar populations may be connected
Cougar M161 had a great stretch of territory in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. Wedged just below the Canadian border between Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and the open Pacific Ocean, the lush forests supported about 40 cougars across 3,600 square miles.
But the peninsula just wasn’t enough for M161. “This young male decided to try swimming,” said Mark Elbroch, the puma program director for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization.
On July 14, 2020, the cougar left the mainland, setting out on a brisk 1-kilometer swim from the eastern end of the Olympic Peninsula to Squaxin Island, just southwest of Seattle in Puget Sound. The journey offered a new range for M161 and a new way of understanding connectivity between cougar populations in the region.
“It was an amazing possibility because we could see all kinds of things open up,” Elbroch said.
Pacific Northwest cougars can island hop - The Wildlife Society
Cougar M161 had a great stretch of territory in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. Wedged just below the Canadian border between Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and the open Pacific Ocean, the lush forests supported about 40 cougars across 3,600 square miles.
But the peninsula just wasn’t enough for M161. “This young male decided to try swimming,” said Mark Elbroch, the puma program director for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization.
On July 14, 2020, the cougar left the mainland, setting out on a brisk 1-kilometer swim from the eastern end of the Olympic Peninsula to Squaxin Island, just southwest of Seattle in Puget Sound. The journey offered a new range for M161 and a new way of understanding connectivity between cougar populations in the region.
“It was an amazing possibility because we could see all kinds of things open up,” Elbroch said.
Pacific Northwest cougars can island hop - The Wildlife Society