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3 Mountain Lion Kittens Found In Thousand Oaks Will Melt Your Heart
The 24-day old furry felines were recently discovered in a dense patch of foliage in the Simi Hills by National Park Service biologists.
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Courtesy NPS
)
An all-female litter of mountain lion kittens was discovered last week in a dense patch of foliage in the Simi Hills of Thousand Oaks by National Park Service biologists.
Meet the kittens
The three furry felines — named P-113, 114, and P-115 — are the offspring of P-77, a mountain lion who’s been living on a small patch between the 101 and 118 freeways.
Biologists discovered P-77's den in the Simi Hills. One of female kittens in that litter.
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Courtesy NPS
)
Biologists discovered P-77's den in the Simi Hills. One of female kittens in that litter.
(
Courtesy NPS
)
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Mountain lion P-77 was collared and released back into the wild in November 2019.
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Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area via Facebook
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The backstory
This is the third litter the NPS has found in the Simi Hills over the past five years.
Jeff Sikich, the lead field biologist of long-term study of mountain lions, says he’s interested to see how the kittens will adapt to the region's urban areas.
“It will be interesting to learn how these kittens will use the landscape once they get older and disperse," he said, "particularly if they decide to stay in the Simi Hills or cross freeways to enter larger natural areas.”
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Courtesy NPS
)
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For the last decade, the cougar called Griffith Park home and lived a remarkably adventurous life. -
We can’t think of many places you could see wild bears, parrots, mountain lions, whales and buffalo (yup!) all in the same day, but this is Southern California — and you totally could. -
Bulldozers carved up the side of the 101 Freeway as part of a major step in the construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills.
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To get to the other side of the road
A breakdown of some of the wildlife that would regain access to huge swaths of their natural habitats once the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Corridor is completed.
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Courtesy National Wildlife Federation
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Living Habitats
)
Last April, construction got underway on the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing that will stretch 210 feet across eight lanes of the 101 freeway in Agoura Hills.
The $90 million project is intended to provide safe passage to a range of wildlife now hemmed in by the region's massive freeways. Mountain lions have been killed in high numbers on area roads and also suffer from inbreeding because of how bifurcated their habitats currently are due to development in Southern California.
What's next
Given the recent deaths of mountain lions in L.A., including the loss of the famous P-22, these recent births shine a light on a more hopeful future for a species that have adapted to a fragmented landscape of Los Angeles.
And the future for the kittens? Well, the healthy creatures have been tagged so biologists can keep track of their development and their movement well-beyond their childhood.
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