While Yellowstone bears sleep, Park warns of another dangerous creature

Yellowstone National Park warned this week that while most bears are hibernating, winter visitors should still carry bear spray.

This is because mountain lions or cougars are active all year round in the park.

“Although these big cats are extremely elusive and averse to human activity, you should always exercise caution when recreating in the park — even in winter,” the park explained via Instagram. “Carry bear spray and keep it handy, not in your pack.

“If you see a cougar, DO BIG! Yell, show your teeth and make eye contact.”

Yellowstone cougar keeps watch from the tree. Photo: NPS/Connor Meyer

Biologists assess that a total of 42 cougars inhabit the northern range of the park and that other cougars enter the park sporadically.

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By comparison, the park is home to around 125 wolves, which are also active year-round.

But wolves, though they can be elusive, stay in packs and are more predictable in revealing their locations than mountain lions.

From the park’s website: “Wolves are usually not a danger to humans unless humans habituate them by feeding them. No wolf has attacked a human in Yellowstone.”

Cougar encounters do occur, although they are extremely rare.

In February 2022, the Yellowstone Wolf Tracker shared remotely recordings shows a large cougar rising from its resting place and leaving the frame. (The video is posted above.)

The eco-tour company exclaimed: “Low-quality video, but a high-quality view!”

Pumas mostly hunt deer and moose, but also small mammals such as marmots.

According to the park’s website, bears and wolves sometimes displace cougars from their kills, and wolf packs have been known to kill adult cougars and cougar kittens.

The park adds that “very few documented confrontations between cougars and humans have occurred in Yellowstone.”

But it’s best to be prepared.