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Geocoded Historical Mountain Lion Fatality Data
Public Safety & Security
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About
Documenting lethal encounters between humans and mountain lions across North America provides essential context for understanding wildlife risks and historical safety patterns. This collection identifies specific instances of fatal cougar, puma, or mountain lion attacks, combining details from historical records with modern geographic coordinates. By geocoding these events, the resource offers a factual basis for analysing the spatial and temporal distribution of human-wildlife conflict over more than a century, supporting efforts in wildlife management and public safety education.
Columns
- Date: The specific calendar date the attack occurred, such as July 5, 1909.
- Location: The geographic region, including the state or province, where the event took place.
- Name: The full name of the victim or a descriptive label if the name is unknown.
- Age: The numerical age of the victim at the time of the encounter.
- Year: The four-digit calendar year associated with the incident, ranging from 1868 to 2018.
- Latitude: The latitudinal coordinate of the attack location, added via geocoding.
- Longitude: The longitudinal coordinate of the attack location, added via geocoding.
Distribution
The information is delivered in a tabular CSV file titled
cougar_attacks.csv with a compact file size of 2.77 kB. It contains 28 records, showing high data integrity with a 100% validity rate for the date, name, and year fields. While the majority of entries include precise coordinates, approximately 7% of the location and coordinate fields are missing, resulting in 26 valid geocoded points. The resource is designed for annual updates to include any new verified incidents.Usage
This resource is ideal for statistical analysis of animal-related fatalities and the study of human-wildlife interaction trends in North America. Researchers can use the coordinates to perform spatial clustering or to map the proximity of historical attacks to modern urban expansion. It also serves as an accessible entry point for students or beginners in data science to practice data cleaning, geocoding, and exploratory visualisation techniques.
Coverage
The geographic scope is limited to North America, covering various states and provinces where cougars are indigenous. Temporally, the records span over 150 years, with the earliest entry dated 1868 and the most recent from 2018. The demographic scope includes victims of diverse age groups, ranging from 3 to 56 years old, providing a broad overview of the demographics involved in these rare encounters.
License
CC BY-SA 3.0
Who Can Use It
Wildlife biologists and ecologists can leverage these records to identify long-term patterns in mountain lion behaviour and habitat overlap with human populations. Public safety officers and park rangers may utilise the location data to refine safety programmes and warning systems in high-risk areas. Additionally, academic researchers can employ the data to investigate how historical reporting of such events has changed since the late 19th century.
Dataset Name Suggestions
- North American Fatal Cougar Attack Registry (1868–2018)
- Geocoded Historical Mountain Lion Fatality Data
- Lethal Puma Encounters: North American Statistical Archive
- Human-Cougar Conflict: A Century of Fatality Records
- North America Mountain Lion Attack and Location Database
Attributes
Original Data Source: Geocoded Historical Mountain Lion Fatality Data
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Download Dataset in CSV Format
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