Living with Lions Webinar: Mountain Lion Spying 101

However, in 2011, only after a tragic encounter with a mountain lion which resulted in the death of his dog Gwennie and the mountain lion, did Hari start camera trapping in his home town of Los Alamos to learn more about the local wildlife. He also learnt that with a few simple steps such as accompanying his dog into the backyard at dawn, dusk and night and keeping his dog on leash, tragic encounters such as these can mostly be prevented.

Starting with simple low quality black and white trail cameras, Hari soon came to realize that his home town was teeming with wildlife ranging from numerous night time visits from raccoons, grey fox, coyotes and ringtails to more elusive predators like bobcats, bears and mountain lions. After witnessing this amazing wildlife on his low quality trail cameras, Hari decided to use his quality photography gear with a motion sensor and embarked on capturing high quality camera trap color images of the wildlife that secretly roams the canyons and mountains of Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Hari has learned a lot about the local mountain lions and has assisted the National Park Service at the neighboring Bandelier National Monument to camera trap mountain lions for research and educational outreach. From initially having very little success in capturing the elusive ghost cat, Hari now has 100s of images of these amazing creatures as they coexist in his home town without too much conflict. Hari will detail what he has learned with this hobby that has turned into quite a passion for him.