While the mountain lion is not on endangered or threatened lists, its population in Southern California is on the edge of extirpation (becoming extinct in a localized area). Jeff Sikich, a mountain lion biologist with the National Park Service, estimates only 10 lions are left in the Santa Monica Mountains. Before suburban sprawl, there were miles of wilderness for mountain lions (also called pumas, cougars and panthers), which preyed on deer and other wildlife. As people moved into the Los Angeles area, the lion became prey to hunters who received a bounty for every cat pelt. That policy was in effect from 1907 until 1963, when the lions were reclassified as non-game mammals. Hunting resumed in 1969, and 118 mountain lions were killed over the next three years. Although the classification from game to protected species once again changed, it took a 1990 ballot proposition to officially label them ‘specially protected mammals.’ Even with that designation, the pumas are still facing an uncertain future, especially in Southern California. The Mountain Lion Foundation, a national nonprofit conservation and education organization, believes the critical threat is loss of habitat, and that habitat acquisition, restoration and protection must be a priority. ‘Our surveys results also indicate that lions can and will use movement corridors across freeways, and readily cross smaller roads in the Santa Monica Mountains,’ Sikich said. ‘However, we have only confirmed one lion out of 20 that successfully crossed the 101 Freeway [the Ventura freeway from the 405 to the Pacific Ocean].’Mountain lion existence in the Santa Monica Mountains will depend on movement across the 101.’ Several agencies are working together to try to create more wildlife crossings over and under urban roadways. ‘The small population size of lions in the Santa Monica Mountains reconfirms the critical need to maintain habitat connectivity between parklands in the Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains,’ Sikich continued.”Without habitat linkages, mountain lions will not persist in these areas.’ Park Service biologists were excited in May when three lion cubs’two female and one male’were born south of Peter Strauss Ranch off Mulholland Highway, and researchers equipped them with radio collars. This is the first urban mountain lion study to track mountain lion kittens from such a young age. Three months later, one of the female kittens died of starvation. The remaining two cubs are still with the mother, and will remain for a year to 18 months, before seeking independence. Through tracking devices, biologists suspect the father is P12 (the P stands for puma), the only mountain lion to have made a successful documented crossing across Interstate 101 to enter the Santa Monica Mountains in the spring of 2009. Scientists are hopeful that he brought new genetic material to the area. Another lion, P16, was also added to the study in May, which is significant because the male lives in the Santa Susana Mountains off I-5. His movements will be studied to see if he stays in his current location, goes south into the Santa Monica Mountains, or attempts to cross the Santa Clara River valley and Highway 126 as he travels north to the Los Padres National Forest, where there is a large mountain lion population. ‘We have radio collared 19 mountain lions and are currently following eight with radio,’ Sikich said, noting that radio collars have generated over 35,000 GPS locations for mountain lions, which allows researchers to collect detailed information on activity and movement patterns. ‘We know a lot about them, where they go and what they eat,’ Sikich said. ‘Our data show they don’t hang around in urban areas, and that 98 percent of their kills are in a natural habitat. When lions did utilize areas in close proximity to human activity, it was generally at night. Our data suggest that mountain lions and people can coexist even next to developed areas with a high density of roads and trails.’ According to the biologist, pumas are one of America’s largest cats and roam a wide area from the 405 to the 101 freeways to the ocean, covering as much as 300 square miles. Adult males may be eight feet long from their nose to the tip of their tail, with females about a foot shorter. The life span of mountain lions (in the wild) is generally around 12 years. ‘The average weight for a male lion is 120 pounds, and for a female is 70 pounds,’ said Sikich, who has studied the cats since 2002, who noted that pumas rarely interact with others except to mate and during territorial conflicts. ‘They’re solitary, they prefer natural habitats and need deer to survive.’ According to the Department of Fish and Game, pumas usually hunt alone at night and prefer to ambush their prey, often from behind. They usually kill with a bite below the base of the skull, breaking the neck. Last July, a news report cited an ultimately unconfirmed midnight sighting of a mountain lion in Temescal Canyon near Palisades High School. Sikich said that it would not be unusual because of the proximity to the Santa Monica Mountains, but warned that when he has been called out to investigate sightings, ‘most of them turn out not to be mountain lions. People have mistaken bobcats, yellow labs and even a statue of a mountain lion for the real thing.’ Asked what a person should do if he/she comes into contact with a mountain lion, Sikich said: ‘ Don’t run, stay still. If you have a young child, put them on your shoulders. Running may bring out the predatory response in the animal, which then may give chase. ‘ Yell, wave your arms and be aggressive (show them you are not a deer). Stand your ground, and if you have something in your hand like a water bottle, throw it. ‘ If you are attacked, fight back. The biologist reminds readers that mountain lion attacks are rare and that a person stands a greater chance of dying from their car hitting a deer than from a mountain lion. Sikich said that if a Palisades resident gets a rare glimpse of a mountain lion in his/her neighborhood, the person should just go back in the house. The National Park Service has released a book, ‘Urban Carnivores: Ecology, Conflict, and Conservation,’ which can be purchased at Village Books on Swarthmore Avenue.
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