Colorado & Denver News

ESTES PARK, Colo. (CBS4) ― The hike into the high country has taken more than hour. Their big minute has finally arrived.

"20 pictures," says Madeline Wilson, 15, an Honors Student in Biology at Estes Park Schools.

She's just unloaded a camera "trap" -- strapped to a tree -- along a well-traveled game trail.

Madeline is one of ten, bright students from Estes Park that are partnering with the Rocky Mountain Cat Conservancy to study Colorado's top predator, the mountain lion.

During their walk to this unmanned picture-taker, familiar pawprints could be seen in the snow.

"Looking at the size of prints, our cat is headed right up toward our camera," explains Don Hunter, Science Advisor for the Conservancy.

It's believed more than 100 mountain lions live in and around Rocky Mountain National Park.

This field project is taking place on the historic MacGregor Ranch on the eastern boundary of the Park.

Lions are secretive and rarely seen in the wild by humans. But camera traps are a clever way to catch a glimpse of the elusive lions.

The cameras used in this project are powered by batteries and triggered by motion up to a range of about 30 feet.

The retrieved digital images get loaded into a laptop computer and the kids quickly realize they've struck pay-dirt.

One picture shows a full grown female strutting through the camera flash in the dark. The next image is absolutely riveting. Two young lions, frozen by the flash, frolick in the black of night.

The project began last fall and the camera traps have recorded at least half a dozen different lions on camera.

"I was actually surprised how fast and how many pictures of mountain lions we got," says Carmen Buttler, another Freshman Honors Student. She's lived in Estes Park since age two and has never seen a mountain lion in the wild.

The project has been a powerful teaching tool for the kids. For example, they've learned the hunting range for female lions can overlap but male lions are super territorial and capable of killing trespassing lions.

But for several of the students this unique exposure to such a charismatic creature has only whetted their appetite to learn more.

"I'd like to know how they stalk prey and make a kill," says Hunter Johnson, a 14 year old Talented and Gifted Science Student.

"Yeah," adds 15 year old Biology Honors Student Lindsi Durrett, "Lions in Africa hunt in groups but out here there's just one lion with a whole herd of prey so how do they do it?"

Madeline is curious about how the adult cats attract mates. Earlier this winter, the kids followed news reports of mountain lions prowling in foothill neigborhoods where pets have gone missing. But this unique experience of actually getting pictures of wild lions has changed attitudes.

"It's really not as scarey anymore," explains Sierra Dennis, an Eighth Grade Talented and Gifted Student.

Somewhat surprisingly, lions in the Estes Park area, eat more elk than deer.
As grizzly bears and wolves disappeared long ago from the landscape, lions became the only predator playing a key role in controlling the vast herds of elk and deer says Caroline Krumm, Director of Conservancy.
She adds the big cats will take food where they find it, but rarely pose a threat to people.

"They have a search image that doesn't include humans," says Krumm.
"We don't look like deer, we don't really behave like elk, so unless circumstances are just right, they typically avoid humans," she explains.

On this day in the woods, the kids can't stop admiring their most amazing picture.

"Two baby mountain lions," says Madeline with a smile, "Thats so cool."

Besides offering the excitement of catching a lion on camera, this project is teaching the next generation the importance of conserving Colorado's top predator.

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