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Los Angeles just lately celebrated the lifetime of a really well-known and dearly liked persona: “Hollywood Cat” P-22 (Puma No. 22). The sole mountain lion to make the Santa Monica Mountains Nationwide Recreation Middle its residence gained fairly the status throughout his ‘reign’ in Tinsel City. His loss of life by euthanasia—due to present sicknesses and a latest damage from a potential automobile strike—was bemoaned by many animal lovers regionally, nationally and even globally.
Distinctive to P-022’s case was that he known as Griffith Park, on the japanese 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.
By his lengthy presence in L.A., P-22 introduced consideration to pumas worldwide. On this reminiscence, we discover this massive cat’s historical past—and future.
The place Do Mountain Lions Stay?
Pumas, cougars, panthers, painters, catamounts, mountain lions—all of those names refer to 1 giant wild cat with the scientific identify Puma concolor. The multitude of names will 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.
At present, the story is completely different. Solely 14 western states in North America have mountain lion populations, with just a few different very small and negligible numbers in different places. Specialists estimate that about 30,000 cougars name the US residence, with the bulk dwelling in Colorado, Montana and California.
Causes for the diminished numbers embrace progress in human populations the place mountain lions have been as soon as current, poaching and searching, lack of habitat on account 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 activity.
At Bryce Canyon Nationwide Park, mountain lions have been sometimes noticed at evening alongside the park roads or when caught for a fast second in automotive headlights. The massive cats are most energetic 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 tough to trace.
Central and South America have some puma populations as nicely, principally concentrated in Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Panama, Belize and Costa Rica. Mountain lions can survive in a wide range of habitats, together with mountains, forests and even deserts.
On the prowl within the American Southwest.
8 Quick Info About Mountain Lions
- Mountain lions can climb over a 12-foot fence and leap 15 ft up a tree with ease. They’re additionally identified for his or her pace.
- They’re strictly carnivores. Cougars eat deer, elk and different smaller animals. Solely on very uncommon events would you discover one feeding on vegetation.
- Within the wild, mountain lions stay about 10 years. In captivity, mountain strains 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 giant wild cats. As an alternative, they hiss, purr and growl identical to home cats do.
- They’ve glorious evening imaginative and prescient, so most pumas are on the prowl between sundown and dawn, looking for their prey. Subsequently, in areas with identified 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 E book of World Information because the mammal with probably the most names, with greater than 40 within the English language alone!
- They hardly ever assault people. Cougars shy from any interplay with people, and, throughout the uncommon encounter, they often scare simply and run away.
- Child 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
Though thought-about of ‘least concern’ per the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature
Purple Record of Threatened Species, it is very important act now to preserve the species, as numbers of mature mountain lions preserve declining. A number of organizations are concerned in applications to extend mountain lion populations of their areas via schooling, analysis, consciousness and different conservation efforts.
Panthera, a company that works to guard wild cats, makes use of outreach, analysis, monitoring and schooling to assist promote progress in mountain lion numbers. The nonprofit’s major objectives are to teach the general public about pumas and their significance to ecosystems, handle the fragmentation of mountain lion habitats that negatively impacts the connectedness of the puma populations, cut back searching and trapping of the species, and improve human tolerance towards them.
The Cougar Conservancy has a SaveLA Cougars program and works to scale back human-wildlife battle and preserve cougar populations. It’s 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 Methods You Can Assist Mountain Lions
1. One of many best methods to assist cougars is to help organizations working towards conservation efforts, equivalent to those talked about above.
2. Need to see mountain lions within the wild? Guarantee any wildlife tour or different outside expedition involving mountain lion sightings is organized with the perfect 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 happen to stay 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. At all times test your environment, particularly after darkish, and guarantee you’ve firm when out for a stroll on lonely streets. Though cougars hardly ever assault folks, they might accomplish that in the event that they really feel threatened. Study what to do in case of a mountain lion encounter and how you can scare it away.
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