<description>&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt;"&gt;&lt;span style= "line-height: 115%;"&gt;"Why do we need large carnivores? O&lt;/span&gt;bviously as a scientist, I like talk about the biological roles that they play and the ecological roles, but I will drift and say that I think they're important for spirit and sort of human health more broadly, whether that be mental health, spiritual health, whatever, that sense of wildness that they bring to a landscape, that they force you to listen when you're in the woods, that you hear sticks break around you, that you hear what the birds are doing so that you know whether there's something coming around the next bend. These are all, in my opinion, truly enriching moments and necessary for human spirit and really for human health." - Mark Elbroch &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p dir="ltr"&gt;Mark: [00:12:23] These are all, in my opinion, truly enriching moments and necessary for human spirit and [00:12:30] really for human health&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"&gt;Mark Elbroch is an ecologist and author, storyteller and the director of the Puma Program for &lt;a href="https://panthera.org/"&gt;Panthera&lt;/a&gt;, the global wild cat conservation organization.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"&gt;Mark has been on the &lt;a href="https://www.speciesunite.com/podcast/mark-elbroch"&gt;podcast before&lt;/a&gt; to talk about cougars, but something has changed since the last time he was on. For years, many people in the scientific community, and this is backed by research, have claimed that cougars would return to their historic range in the eastern US in the next 10 to 20 years.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"&gt;But there's a new study from Panthera that says that this is not true, that they won’t make it to the East Coast even by 2100, which means, if we want cougars in the east we're going to have to help them.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"&gt;This is a big deal because we do want cougars in the east. Large predators make fragile ecosystems &lt;span style= "color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"&gt;strong. Mountain lions&lt;a href= "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mam.12281" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;&lt;span style= "color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"&gt; interact with nearly 500 other species&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and their reintroduction could lead to&lt;a href= "https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.06098'" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;&lt;span style= "color: black; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"&gt; healthier forests&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, less zoonotic disease, and many other benefits. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"&gt; Let’s bring cougars home!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Species Unite

Elizabeth Novogratz

Mark Elbroch: If We Want Mountain Lions the East, We'll Have to Bring Them

NOV 13, 202435 MIN
Species Unite

Mark Elbroch: If We Want Mountain Lions the East, We'll Have to Bring Them

NOV 13, 202435 MIN

Description

"Why do we need large carnivores? Obviously as a scientist, I like talk about the biological roles that they play and the ecological roles, but I will drift and say that I think they're important for spirit and sort of human health more broadly, whether that be mental health, spiritual health, whatever, that sense of wildness that they bring to a landscape, that they force you to listen when you're in the woods, that you hear sticks break around you, that you hear what the birds are doing so that you know whether there's something coming around the next bend. These are all, in my opinion, truly enriching moments and necessary for human spirit and really for human health." - Mark Elbroch 

 

Mark: [00:12:23] These are all, in my opinion, truly enriching moments and necessary for human spirit and [00:12:30] really for human health

 

Mark Elbroch is an ecologist and author, storyteller and the director of the Puma Program for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization.

 

Mark has been on the podcast before to talk about cougars, but something has changed since the last time he was on. For years, many people in the scientific community, and this is backed by research, have claimed that cougars would return to their historic range in the eastern US in the next 10 to 20 years.

 

But there's a new study from Panthera that says that this is not true, that they won’t make it to the East Coast even by 2100, which means, if we want cougars in the east we're going to have to help them.

 

This is a big deal because we do want cougars in the east. Large predators make fragile ecosystems strong. Mountain lions interact with nearly 500 other species and their reintroduction could lead to healthier forests, less zoonotic disease, and many other benefits. 

 

Let’s bring cougars home!