A mountain lion found injured in last year’s Bobcat Fire in the Angeles National Forest has died. Rescuers gave her the name, Monrovia.
She was the first mountain lion in California to be treated for injuries, rehabilitated, and released back into the wild. For the past 10 months she was seen many times on trail cameras from Azusa to Burbank.
Monrovia, believed to be about 6 or 7 years old when she was rescued, spent her time successfully hunting and killing deer. Mountain lions are mostly solitary creatures, but she was once spotted walking alongside a male cat — a sign that the lioness may possibly have been mating or parenting.
She appeared to be healthy in photos and a field necropsy was unable to pinpoint the cause of her death.
“The data we received from her collar shows that she successfully lived within the urban-wildland interface for nearly a year, without ever being involved in human-mountain lion conflict,” The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a Facebook post.
There are approximately 4,000 to 6000 mountain lions, also known as pumas or cougars, living in California. Though they are not considered to be endangered, increasing development and population growth puts them at risk.
Officials said mountain lions in the wild can live up to 10 years.
“Life can be treacherous for mountain lions in the wild; they can succumb to vehicular strikes, fights with other lions, accidents while trying to kill prey, poaching and other hazards,” said Fish and Wildlife officials in their Facebook post. “This further illustrates that mountain lions can and do live among the communities in San Gabriel foothills."
