My favorite climbing area (Baboquivari Peak, SW of Tucson, AZ) is prime mountain lion country. I have observed cat tracks covering my ascending trail while on descent the same day (stalking or curious?). A rancher observed that he had never raised a colt to maturity in the 30+/- years he had been living there.

A local feature on the peak is named "Lion Ledge," for obvious reasons. Over the years I have made more than seventy ascents, many involving overnight camps.

I have never seen a kitty cat, although I am sure they have seen (or smelled!) me.. Babo was first climbed in the 1890s and is now a popular destination - one of the few Arizona peaks where a rope is required to reach the summit. Over the years there has been at least one climbing fatality, but none due to kitties (nor injuries, either, for that matter.

The Babo kitties must be well fed - lots of coatimundis, rabbits, and colts to feast on. Besides climbers are tough and stringy.

Times have changed since I was there. Many more problems with drug smuggling and other border issues than with cats.

Other ranges is S. AZ have populations of mountain lions and encounters are quite rare. No fatalities that I know of...

This is one reason I am somewhat blase about dealing with wild critters. I was active in SAR here for decades, and fatalities from falls and drownings were common. We lost seven in about twenty minutes one fine spring day due to a flash flood - took the rest of the week to find and recover their bodies.