Sawtooth Forum & Lecture Series

Maurice Hornocker, PhD, is a wildlife biologist best known for advancing our knowledge of the elusive mountain lion’s behavior and ecology. During his fifty-five years of research in Idaho, New Mexico and Yellowstone National Park, he published numerous scientific papers about cougars and co-authored or edited books that include: “Yellowstone Cougars,” “Cougar: Ecology & Conservation,” and “Desert Puma,” each of which won the Wildlife Society’s Book of the Year award. His writing, research, and mountain lion photographs have appeared in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian, and National Wildlife magazines. He and his colleagues have also conducted pioneering research on other big cat species throughout the world including Siberian tigers, jaguars, leopards, ocelots, lynx and bobcats. He has received recognition for his work and writing by The Wildlife Society’s annual Publication Award and, in 2024, the Aldo Leopold Memorial Award, the highest honor bestowed by The Wilderness Society and is the Wildlife profession’s Hall Of Fame for career achievement. He and his wife, Leslie, lived in the home they built on Broadford Slough near Bellevue, ID for 35 years, only recently moving to Eagle with their horses, bird dogs, and a Manx cat named Redd.