Shownotes
Dr. Winston Vickers has spent decades studying one of America's big cats, the mountain lion. He's tracked them, collared them, and even studied their poop, all to help Southern California's mountain lions survive. A veterinarian who went back to school mid-career to study big cats, he shares what it's like to come face to face with a mountain lion, why highways are pushing some populations toward extinction, and why killing one lion doesn't solve the problem.
“There was concern that mountain lions in some parts of Southern California were making it harder for these bighorns to recover. So that's why we started putting collars on the mountain lions."
- Dr. Winston Vickers on Tell Me What It’s Like
Hear Dr. Vickers discuss:
- How he went back to school to study mountain lions after a 20 year vet career
- How you trap a mountain lion (it involves roadkill)
- The diseases threatening them, from avian flu to feline leukemia
- How one freeway split a population and led to dangerous inbreeding
- What scat-sniffing dogs reveal about what lions eat
- What it was like to collar his first mountain lion
- Close encounters with mountain lions
- Why "you can't kill your way out of the problem"
- Why there seem to be more lions in the suburbs
- Why mountain lions keep whole ecosystems in balance
Mentioned in this episode:
About Dr. Vickers:
Dr. T. Winston Vickers is a wildlife research veterinarian with the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center and the Institute for Wildlife Studies. For 20 years he directed or co-directed mountain lion studies across California, and he has studied mountain lions and other wildlife for 23 years. His work focuses on why mountain lions die, how they move, road crossings, genetics, and how they interact with people.
"Just the sheer muscle that's there when you feel their bodies is just amazing. "
- Dr. Winston Vickers on Tell Me What It’s Like
