Totem Quest Spirit_of_the

In 1999 a once-in-a-lifetime event transpired: a Mountain Lioness with her three cubs spent six weeks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming within plain view of human eyes. Thousands flocked to the National Elk Refuge from all over the globe during that time to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

Alas, a mere three months later the local Game and Fish Commission. which earns its revenue by selling licenses, doubled the quota of Mountain Lions that hunters could harvest.

By most accounts, Mountain Lions in the Eastern United States had been hunted into extinction in the early 1900s. Though their presence lingers out West, it is precarious, and this film by Tom Mangelson and Cara Blessley Lowe make this point powerfully clear.

Hunting female Mountain Lions is discouraged, especially if they are pregnant or with cubs, but it is not always easy to visually differentiate the sexes and mistakes are often made.

On camera, an adult hunter admits to having spent half of his entire life, in six month stretches, in the mountains. During that time he spotted wild Mountain Lions only twice. Nonetheless, with his dogs he appears to locate one rather readily, trap it in a tree and shoot it. He justifies his actions by claiming that it is a male and a menace to the local mule deer population.

In fact it was neither.

Did that Mountain Lioness have cubs waiting for her somewhere, dependent on her for their survival? Was the mother who attracted worldwide attention several months earlier similarlly slain? We do not know.

Spirit of the Rockies is an informative and disturbing film. Watching it motivated me into taking action. If it motivates you to do the same, the Cougar Fund is an excellent place to start.

Reviewed by Hercules Invictus