Mountain lion populations have been increasing throughout the western United States since the mid-1960s, at the same time, human populations are also growing. In Montana population growth has led to urban developments in many previously undeveloped areas, including new subdivisions in mountain foothills and canyons. One outcome of this expansion is an increase in the number of interactions between mountain lions and people.

There are simply more people and lions using a smaller area in the West, and that means more people are likely to see lions. On a national scale, more lion incidents have been reported in the past twenty years than in the previous 80.

One-to-two year old mountain lions account for more than 70 percent of the lion-human interactions in Montana. Many of these encounters involve young lions trying to establish their own home ranges and perhaps having difficulty appropriately identifying prey or obtaining enough food in the wild.

Actual conflicts with lions remain rare and seldom lead to serious injury or death. In more than 100 years there have been fewer than 12 recorded human fatalities due to lion attacks in the United States.

Remember: Seeing a mountain lion in the outdoors is not an emergency or even a threat, it should be expected when recreating in mountain lion country. An aggressive lion, however, is unusual and should be reported to the nearest Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks office immediately.