Uploaded September 2021 | Updated September 2026, 9 hours ago
Mountain Lions have been missing from Zion Canyon since the 1940s. Attractions like Angel's Landing, the Narrows, and the Great White Throne draw millions of visitors each year to Zion National Park, but that popularity also comes at a cost to Zion's mountain lions.
Mountain lions are solitary creatures, and the hustle and bustle of Zion Canyon has driven them to more remote areas of the park. The ecological consequences of this removal have been catastrophic. After Zion's mountain lions retreated to the backcountry, the mule deer population exploded and quickly decimated the Virgin River's streamside vegetation.
But in those areas where mountain lions still roamed, scientists not only found streams that were healthy, but they found ecosystems that were thriving. It's a familiar story of large predator ecology - remove them and the greater ecosystem suffers. Zion's mountain lions are simply the latest in a long line of stories about what happens when you remove the very animal that keeps an ecosystem together.
The story of Zion's missing mountain lions is the final installment in my series about predators in National Parks. If you'd like to check out the first 2 videos, about Yellowstone's Wolf Reintroduction and Isle Royale's Wolf/Moose relationships, you can check those out below.
Isle Royale Wolves: youtube.com/watch?v=ysw7YbKC99w
Yellowstone Wolf Reintroduction: youtube.com/watch?v=4_BqQEZQOJw
Stay tuned for more stories about parks and protected areas!
National Park Diaries is now on PATREON. You can support the channel here: patreon.com/nationalparkdiaries
Mountain Lions have been missing from Zion Canyon since the 1940s. Attractions like Angel's Landing, the Narrows, and the Great White Throne draw millions of visitors each year to Zion National Park, but that popularity also comes at a cost to Zion's mountain lions.
Mountain lions are solitary creatures, and the hustle and bustle of Zion Canyon has driven them to more remote areas of the park. The ecological consequences of this removal have been catastrophic. After Zion's mountain lions retreated to the backcountry, the mule deer population exploded and quickly decimated the Virgin River's streamside vegetation.
But in those areas where mountain lions still roamed, scientists not only found streams that were healthy, but they found ecosystems that were thriving. It's a familiar story of large predator ecology - remove them and the greater ecosystem suffers. Zion's mountain lions are simply the latest in a long line of stories about what happens when you remove the very animal that keeps an ecosystem together.
The story of Zion's missing mountain lions is the final installment in my series about predators in National Parks. If you'd like to check out the first 2 videos, about Yellowstone's Wolf Reintroduction and Isle Royale's Wolf/Moose relationships, you can check those out below.
Isle Royale Wolves: youtube.com/watch?v=ysw7YbKC99w
Yellowstone Wolf Reintroduction: youtube.com/watch?v=4_BqQEZQOJw
Stay tuned for more stories about parks and protected areas!
National Park Diaries is now on PATREON. You can support the channel here: patreon.com/nationalparkdiaries
