Los Angeles not too long ago celebrated the lifetime of a really well-known and dearly beloved persona: “Hollywood Cat” P-22 (Puma No. 22). The sole mountain lion to make the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Center its residence gained fairly the fame throughout his ‘reign’ in Tinsel Town. His loss of life by euthanasia—due to present sicknesses and a current damage from a doable car strike—was bemoaned by many animal lovers domestically, nationally and even globally.
Unique to P-022’s case was that he known as Griffith Park, on the jap facet of the Santa Monica Mountains, his residence—a really small geographic space for an grownup puma to thrive in or discover a mate. P-22 made it over from the western facet of the mountains the place he was born, crossing two main metropolis freeways—one thing that different mountain lions have died trying.
Through his lengthy presence in L.A., P-22 introduced consideration to pumas worldwide. In this reminiscence, we discover this massive cat’s historical past—and future.
Where Do Mountain Lions Live?
Pumas, cougars, panthers, painters, catamounts, mountain lions—all of those names refer to 1 massive wild cat with the scientific identify Puma concolor. The multitude of names could be attributed to the animal’s previous abundance throughout the western hemisphere and the completely different tribes and nationalities that encountered the species over time.
Today, the story is completely different. Only 14 western states in North America have mountain lion populations, with a couple of different very small and negligible numbers in different places. Experts estimate that about 30,000 cougars name the United States residence, with the bulk residing in Colorado, Montana and California.
Reasons for the lowered numbers embody progress in human populations the place mountain lions had been as soon as current, poaching and looking, lack of habitat because of pure disasters and land improvement, and even air pollution. And with most mountain lions sustaining a solitary presence—they solely transfer in packs when mating or parenting—monitoring their actions is a Herculean process.
At Bryce Canyon National Park, mountain lions have been sometimes noticed at night time alongside the park roads or when caught for a fast second in automobile headlights. The massive cats are most lively within the winter, when climate situations preserve the vast majority of guests at bay. Mountain lions may also be discovered within the Grand Canyon, however right here, too, they’re elusive and intensely troublesome to trace.
Central and South America have some puma populations as nicely, largely concentrated in Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Panama, Belize and Costa Rica. Mountain lions can survive in quite a lot of habitats, together with mountains, forests and even deserts.
On the prowl within the American Southwest.
8 Fast Facts About Mountain Lions
- Mountain lions can climb over a 12-foot fence and leap 15 toes up a tree with ease. They are additionally recognized for his or her pace.
- They are strictly carnivores. Cougars eat deer, elk and different smaller animals. Only on very uncommon events would you discover one feeding on vegetation.
- In the wild, mountain lions stay about 10 years. In captivity, mountain traces can stay for twice as lengthy. At 12 years outdated, P-022 was one of many oldest males documented by the NPS.
- Pumas don’t roar like different massive wild cats. Instead, they hiss, purr and growl identical to home cats do.
- They have wonderful night time imaginative and prescient, so most pumas are on the prowl between sundown and dawn, trying to find their prey. Therefore, in areas with recognized mountain lion presence, it’s advisable to chorus from strolling alone within the streets or leaving small pets or kids out after darkish unsupervised.
- The cats are listed within the Guinness Book of World Records because the mammal with probably the most names, with greater than 40 within the English language alone!
- They not often assault people. Cougars shy from any interplay with people, and, in the course of the uncommon encounter, they often scare simply and run away.
- Baby mountain lions—known as cubs or kittens—have blue eyes and spots on their pores and skin, each of which lose colour as they mature to maturity. Males are known as toms and females are known as queens.
Cougar Conservation
Although thought-about of ‘least concern’ per the International Union for Conservation of Nature
Red List of Threatened Species, it is very important act now to preserve the species, as numbers of mature mountain lions preserve declining. Several organizations are concerned in applications to extend mountain lion populations of their areas by way of training, analysis, consciousness and different conservation efforts.
Panthera, a corporation that works to guard wild cats, makes use of outreach, analysis, monitoring and training to assist promote progress in mountain lion numbers. The nonprofit’s essential targets are to coach the general public about pumas and their significance to ecosystems, deal with the fragmentation of mountain lion habitats that negatively impacts the connectedness of the puma populations, scale back looking and trapping of the species, and enhance human tolerance towards them.
The Cougar Conservancy has a SaveLA Cougars program and works to cut back human-wildlife battle and preserve cougar populations. It is a part of the public-private partnership to assemble the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in California—the world’s largest wildlife overpass—together with a number of different organizations. The group additionally promotes including cougars to the California Endangered Species Act.
3 Ways You Can Help Mountain Lions
1. One of the simplest methods to assist cougars is to help organizations working towards conservation efforts, akin to those talked about above.
2. Want to see mountain lions within the wild? Ensure any wildlife tour or different out of doors expedition involving mountain lion sightings is organized with the most effective intentions for the species and their survival. Nat Hab’s journeys to locations just like the American Southwest, the Amazon, Patagonia and Costa Rica encourage wildlife conservation whereas taking vacationers to wild locations.
3. If you reside in (or go to) an space with puma populations, make your security and theirs a precedence. Mountain lions concerned in human-animal conflicts are at a better threat of being captured and euthanized. Always examine your environment, particularly after darkish, and guarantee you will have firm when out for a stroll on lonely streets. Although cougars not often assault individuals, they might achieve this in the event that they really feel threatened. Learn what to do in case of a mountain lion encounter and how you can scare it away.
