Mountain lions aren’t known to live in Wrangell, but that doesn’t mean the Southeast Alaska island hasn’t served as stomping grounds for the apex predator.
In fact, a mountain lion was shot and killed on the south end of Wrangell Island recently.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game were notified of the death on June 3 and took possession of the carcass. Troopers are leading the investigation, but did not immediately return calls for comment.
Frank Robbins, the state’s area biologist in Petersburg, said it’s the second known mountain lion killed on Wrangell Island. The first was in 1989. Another was accidentally trapped on Kupreanof Island in 1998. All three were males.
“It’s not unprecedented and it appears to be a young male,” he said. “The Stikine River acts like a corridor, essentially for travel. So it’s likely that, you know, young males dispersing down the Stikine River ended up on Wrangell Island.”
He said that young male lions can travel great distances in search of their own home ranges.
Robbins said there are a lot of trail cameras out on Wrangell and nearby islands associated with elk and deer research. They haven’t gotten a photograph of a mountain lion yet, because the species is rare in the area.
“It’ll likely happen again, at some point,” he said. “It’s very interesting. We’re the only area in Southeast Alaska that has had documented lions, mountain lions.”
Robbins said that at some point another young male mountain lion will likely go down the Stikine River and show up in Wrangell again. But it’s anyone’s guess as to when that will happen.
