Mountain Lions in and around Tucson

Tucson Mountain Lion sighting on the Ventana Canyon Trailhead

Recently a hiker saw a mountain lion on the Ventana Canyon Trailhead. He apparently thought that it was a golden retriever until he came closer to the animal!

The lion stopped around  40 feet away from the hiker, and he banged his walking stick on rocks. The Lion did however not appear to be scared but laid down and watched him. He said that it acted more like a dog than a wild animal. He hiked back to the trailhead, when the mountain lion walked into the brush.

Mountain lions are a part of urban life around Tucson where our city borders wildlands in Arizona. In fact I saw one in our front yard just about a month ago!

More recent sightings that have been confirmed by wildlife officials said that the mountain lions have not behaved aggressively, but wildlife officials have been monitoring the area to ensure that none have lost their fear of humans and become a threat.

In 2004 a female lion was shot after it confronted hikers including an 8 year old boy on the same trail.

Fish and wildlife Officers  were concerned at the time that the animal had shown no fear, and it was unusually active in daylight and stalked the hikers.

However with all that said, mountain lion attacks are extremely rare, and even where cities and suburbs like Tucson have grown deep into the prime lion habitat, most people never know they are around.

Saguaro National Park east of Tucson closed some hiking trails due to lion activity, and also state wildlife officials have alerted people about some sightings in areas the Northeast  along Tanque Verde Creek.

Some mountain lions are collars and they are tracked for their activity.

The Mountain Lions that are being tracked around Tucson seem to spend less time in urban areas than those that are being tracked around Prescott.