Population Dynamics of Mountain Lions 45strug gled to remain upright as I walked from the plane to the terminal. Two hours
later I opened my eyes and could stand and walk without feeling sick. I found out later
that our pi lot was aptly named “Rodeo Bob” because he intentionally tried to make his
passengers sick. I only flew for lions one other time. I was seated in the front that
time, and the pi lot was told to be “kind” to me during the flight. I deplaned in much
better shape.
When we began investigating mountain lions in the late 1990s, one of our original
goals was to evaluate the amount of sign, such as tracks, as an index to population
size within the southern region of the Black Hills. We hoped that these data would
help to validate the estimate of 25–35 lions that was being used by South Dakota
Department of Game, Fish and Parks at the time. Because mountain lions were pur-
ported to be at extremely low density, the capture of a sufficient sample to estimate
population par ameters such as survival and cause- specific mortality was thought un-
achievable. However, after a discussion of options with South Dakota Department of
figure 4.1. Flying in search of radio- collared mountain lions above Interstate 90 along
the northeast edge of the Black Hills. Interstate 90 lies between the Hogback and the
Black Hills proper. Because of the topography and the thick vegetation (ponderosa pine,
white spruce, and aspen) in the region, we rarely could actually see radio- collared
mountain lions during aerial flights to estimate locations. Photo by D. Fecske.