MOUNTAIN LION (Felis concolor)

The mountain lion plays an essential role as a top predator in the ecosystem. Although it is not a desert dweller, it is quite common in the high mountain regions around the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, where it culls the old, weak and sick deer. Lions are mostly nocturnal, spending their days resting in bushy canyons and on rocky outcrops. They capture their prey by ambush, relying on their ability to leap and to make rapid bursts of speed.

The photographs are of captive mountain lion in an enclosure at the Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona.