If you live in the UK you may have been lucky enough to catch the BBC2 Natural World documentary Mountain Lions: Big Cats in High Places. I had only ever seen clips of it but the full documentary is now available on Daily Motion, the previous version on YouTube had been taken down. Updated link below!
There is some special footage of Mountain Lion behavior that you most likely have never seen before and it clearly demonstrates that the myths surrounding these misunderstood and highly persecuted big cats are just myths. Importantly, the documentary shows just how tough the cats have it, nature is extreme and unforgiving even without mans interference, so ensuring we work to protect North America’s only big cat is important. Sadly, Mountain Lions are legally hunted throughout the USA and in two western provinces in Canada and, with all the other challenges they face sport hunting shouldn’t be one of them – It is cruel and extremely detrimental to the species overall. A documentary like this is important as it shows what these magnificent cats are truly like and why they deserve our protection just like the African Lion.
purrandroar.com 
Thanks for raising awareness about this topic.
I have just finished watching this documentary. I find it unfathomnable and somewhat wicked that man CAN convince himself intervene with wildlife… when it suits him, in the name of research he can and will sedate and fit a wild animal with a huge cumbersome radio collar with a long antenna sticking up. Really in the year 2000+ can we not do better than that? He can and will puncture its ear to put a really bright red number tab on, yet when the orfaned cub is clearly starving to death they cannot intervene and chuck it a chunk of meat, so they then find it’s dead body, cause of death – starvation! Then on seeing the remaining orfaned cub with a porcupine quill in it’s face we are told by the researcher that ” it’ll have to get it”.. out or else it will probably die, then some time later the orfaned cub is found dead because of the quill. How do you justify that, how do you not react to that by helping the animal when mankind is responsable for most of their problems and at least half their deaths according to you the reasercher.
There is no question of the necessity to actively intervene in my eyes, we owe it to the rest of the worlds animals to do as much as we can to help. Mankind has destroyed and plundered and killed and to then witness man not intervening when he can actually help is beyond arrogant and stupid. If that had been one of the hunters mentioned in the documentary, who was out shooting animals, and he had ended up with a quill in his face the researcher would have been all over it, calling a helicopter to take him to hospital.
Wildlife SOS in UK is a programme about a kind humanbeing, Mr Cowell and his helpers, who take care of, rehabilitate and re-release wild animals who are ill or injured. We need more people like that and less people like this “reasearcher” and his team.
Hi Heather,
I understand your concern, however the work that has been done with this project, The Panthera Puma Program, was groundbreaking & has given the world a glimpse into the lives of these animals that people have never seen. This has not only helped researchers understand mountain lions better but also shown people that they are not the ‘beasts’ that they have so long been portrayed as. There is a tremendous amount of research that has come out of this project that is helping. One of the findings is that they should not be hunted as they are because their numbers are not stable. In fact one of the biggest threats to them is hunting, which I am sure you can agree with is by far the worst danger. Mountain Lions also have to deal with other predators, severe weather,habitat loss, hunting & trapping etc…they are all challenges. Unfortunately researchers cannot generally intervene with wildlife when the cause is considered natural. I agree, it is not pleasant & I would also want them all to be helped. I encourage you to take a look at their program to find out more about the work at https://www.panthera.org/initiative/puma-program Thanks for your comment!