December 2022 - 34

Cyrena Bedoian, mountain lion ecology technician with the University of Wyoming Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, utilizes a telemetry receiver to see if any collared mountain lions are
in the area. When she walks into a potential mountain lion cache, she checks to see if the collared mountain lion is still in the area to limit surprise encounters. (Photo by Tracie Binkerd/WGFD)
H
iking into the backcountry in search of animals cached
by a mountain lion may sound unnerving, but it's all in
a day's work for Cyrena Bedoian. Each day Bedoian, a
mountain lion ecology technician with the University of Wyoming's
Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, goes
to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's regional office
in Casper to get coordinates of potential mountain lion cache
sites. She plans how to get there and heads out to investigate.
She drives as close as she can and hikes to see what she can
find - that hike could be a quarter-mile from the road or deep
into rough terrain. She never knows what her day will look like
when she wakes up.
Bedoian locates these sites to collect tissue
samples as part of ongoing research on how
mountain lions prey upon deer - especially
those with chronic wasting disease. Just as
Bedoian doesn't know what to expect when
she gets up for the day, researchers leading the
study don't know precisely how the research
will be used in the future. With so many ways
the information can be applied, it all comes
down to the data.
34 | December 2022
TARGETED OR RANDOM?
As part of this ongoing study, researchers
are looking into how mountain lions predate
on mule deer. The large cats commonly prey
upon deer as a food source, and questions
persist about how CWD may change their
habits, if it does at all. CWD is a fatal disease
of the central nervous system in deer, elk and
moose. Although early in the disease animals
may show no clinical signs of the illness,
as the disease advances animals may show
weight loss, reluctance to move, excessive
salivation, droopy ears, increased drinking
and urinating and eventually death.
Is it possible mountain lions prey more on
deer with CWD? Or do they avoid animals
with the disease? Mountain lions may be
able to discern behavioral changes due to
disease before humans, so is it possible they
are removing infected animals before they
get to an advanced stage? Researchers hope
to get answers or at least gain some insight
into these questions through this study, a
partnership between the Game and Fish and
the University of Wyoming.

December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2022

December 2022 - 1
December 2022 - 2
December 2022 - 3
December 2022 - 4
December 2022 - 5
December 2022 - 6
December 2022 - 7
December 2022 - 8
December 2022 - 9
December 2022 - 10
December 2022 - 11
December 2022 - 12
December 2022 - 13
December 2022 - 14
December 2022 - 15
December 2022 - 16
December 2022 - 17
December 2022 - 18
December 2022 - 19
December 2022 - 20
December 2022 - 21
December 2022 - 22
December 2022 - 23
December 2022 - 24
December 2022 - 25
December 2022 - 26
December 2022 - 27
December 2022 - 28
December 2022 - 29
December 2022 - 30
December 2022 - 31
December 2022 - 32
December 2022 - 33
December 2022 - 34
December 2022 - 35
December 2022 - 36
December 2022 - 37
December 2022 - 38
December 2022 - 39
December 2022 - 40
December 2022 - 41
December 2022 - 42
December 2022 - 43
December 2022 - 44
December 2022 - 45
December 2022 - 46
December 2022 - 47
December 2022 - 48
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/wyoming-wildlife-may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2024-e-edition
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2023
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2022
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-iak-special-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/dec-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/January2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/December2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/September2020
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