Mountain cats

Pumas from a few different visits to the Torres del Paine region of Chilean Patagonia. Spectacular scenery and apex predators and hiking up and down bluffs and plateaus to follow them makes these trips one of the best wildlife adventures of my life. What you don't see is that these cats come within inches of you as they pas by. They are by no means domesticated but have learned to jujust ignore humans as either a threat or as a meal. It has taken quite some time for them to feel safe as they had been persecuted for ages by farm owners who shot them to protect their sheep. But now, wildlife tourism has provided a generous living and the cats regularly predate on guanaco, of which there are many. More and more farms are starting to avoid shooting pumas and are relying on other mechanisms including dogs to warm them off. It has been a rousing success and hopefully it will continue.
I think these are all new images (at least I hope they are).
Eric


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