[msrenee]

The distance from my home to a mountain lion has been documented at under a mile in the last year. They are officially spotted within a few miles every couple years, but I'm quite confident they're almost always there and just usually better at hiding. I would not consider my location in the middle of suburban sprawl to be anything like wilderness. I'd say you're looking at a 6 hour trip minimum from my location to anything anyone could argue as being wilderness.

If we're going as simple as time to a wild animal, we've had fox in the front yard and I see turkey and deer within a couple of blocks of my place often enough that I wonder if they don't sometimes order at the fast food drive thrus on either end of the neighborhood. I live as far from a cornfield as I ever have right now and that doesn't seem to phase the wildlife.

Back to the article though, they seem to be measuring the distance from town to rural surroundings. At no point do they mention wilderness, rugged landscape, or any kind of danger from the environment. They're measuring to the nearest bit of pasture. Things that can eat you don't factor into it.