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historical_regret2 t1_jaaur32 wrote

Reply to comment by dasus in A cougar was observed swimming 1.1 km (0.68 miles) to an uninhabited island in Pugent Sound. Researchers find other records implying mountain lions can swim even farther to hop between islands, likely >2 km. “We are redefining the mountain lion in our minds as an animal that can swim.” by TR_54

I think it’s a question of how far they can swim.

For example, Vancouver Island (tons of cougars) has historically never had a breeding population of brown bears, which is insane given its size and abundant perfect brown bear habitat.

Turns out that it’s because female brown bears can’t quite hack the swim from the mainland. Males can, and there are always a few males wandering the island, but females don’t and as such a population never got established.

So female brown bears can swim - just not the 3 km or so that it takes to island hop from the mainland to the nearest point of Van island.

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dasus t1_jabywfc wrote

Yeah, I get that it's more of a "they are good swimmers who do it voluntarily", as opposed to "someone tossed them in the water and they didn't drown".

Good example with the bears, man.

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