Research overview: sylvatic plague ecology and cougar prey dynamics

Mountain lion exposure to plague is tied to the disease ecology of their rodent and lagomorph prey, which serve as the reservoir and amplifier of Yersinia pestis. This overview surveys how sylvatic plague cycles in ground squirrels, prairie dogs and rabbits drive cougar exposure, the timing of epizootics, and how predators sample disease activity across their large home ranges. It examines the indirect link between prey population crashes from plague and predator infection, and the use of cougars as integrators of landscape-level plague dynamics. The synthesis connects rodent disease ecology to apex predator health. It aims to help readers understand cougar plague not as an isolated event but as a reflection of the bacterial disease churning through the small-mammal communities on which these big cats depend.