Cougars Lower the Risks of Car Crashes by Hunting Deer
A new study suggests that healthy cougar populations can significantly reduce deer-related car accidents by influencing deer movement patterns. By acting as natural predators, these big cats help keep deer away from high-traffic roadways.
Why it matters
This research highlights the ecological role of apex predators in mitigating human-wildlife conflicts and improving public safety on roads.
A study published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology finds that car accidents involving deer in the US could go down as much as 76% in areas where there is a healthy population of the big cats. The presence of cougars around roads cutting through forests or around a development edging up to the woods, the researchers found, made deer avoid these areas, leading to fewer accidents.
Cougars—also called mountain lions, panthers, or pumas—are native to the Americas. But due to habitat loss and hunting their range in North America dropped off considerably following European colonization. Now, cougars are mostly found in the western US states and a small part of Florida.
Deer, on the other hand, have flourished. With fewer predators and limits on their hunting—as well as land being cleared for agriculture—their habitat and populations have greatly expanded across the US over the past century.
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