JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — New research shows that only 7 percent of mountain lions in the Jackson Hole area are surviving into adulthood.

Teton Cougar Project leader Mark Elbroch says there's a correlation between young cougars dying and the area's growing wolf population.

Elbroch presented the project's findings Monday in Jackson. He says only 34 percent of cougar kittens make it to 6 months old. Twenty percent survive to 18 months old.

Elbroch says survival rates for young mountain lions have gradually declined over the Cougar Project's 13 years of research.

The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports wolves have killed at least five lion cubs mothered by Cougar Project research animals in recent years.

He says the den sites chosen by mother cougars can make a big difference in their kittens' survival.

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Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, www.jhnewsandguide.com