A mountain lion baby boom has occurred this summer in the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills west of Los Angeles.
It’s the first time so many mountain lion dens have been found within such a short period of time during the 18 years in which the region’s cougar population has been studied by the National Park Service.Biologists visit dens while the mothers are away to perform health checks on kittens, determine sex and apply ear tags.
“This level of reproduction is a great thing to see, especially since half of our mountains burned almost two years ago during the Woolsey Fire,” wildlife biologist Jeff Sikich said in a statement. “It will be interesting to see how these kittens use the landscape in the coming years and navigate the many challenges, both natural and human-caused, they will face as they grow older and disperse.”
The study is looking into how the big cats survive in habitat fragmented by urbanization amid threats including lack of genetic diversity, roadway deaths and poisons. The cats largely avoid people.Earlier this year, five California mountain lions were seen together on home surveillance video in a rare gathering of the notoriously solitary big cats. The footage was recorded at a rural residence at the edge of the El Dorado National Forest east of Sacramento, KTXL-TV reported in January.
“We shared the videos and photos with several of our wildlife biologists, and none of them could recall ever seeing five mountain lions together," said Peter Tira, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
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