With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today .
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
The Mountain Lions Are Hunting Among Us
Alright, time for your weekly dose of mountain lion news. Would you believe it if we told you mountain lions were known to actively hunt less than a mile from ddeveloped areas?
Well, they are! A decades long study by the UCLA Institute for the Environment and Sustainability and the National Parks Service used GPS information from tracked animals to study specific locations where the animals killed prey. While most of the kills occur in distinctly undeveloped areas, people's propensity to build stuff in mountain lions' natural habitats means, perhaps not so shockingly, that mountain lions hunt very close to people.
We've kind of known this unofficially for some time. Animals like the Griffith Park Mountain Lion, P-22, and others who live very close people have to eat, and it could be reasonably deduced that, therefore, they hunt close to people. This study, however, is the first actual analysis of exact hunting spots.
Take a look at the above map, where each red dot signifies a 'predation' site as determined by the study's authors. Of the 420 total kill-sites examined, only two were actually located in developed areas. A gender-divide between male and female animals was also found. While male mountain lions usually caught their prey deep in the chaparral and woodland areas, female animals were found to, on average, make their kills less than one mile from the human development.
Support for LAist comes from
Aside from when they're mating, male and female mountain lions stay apart. Male mountain lions can be dangerous for females and their cubs, and the fact that females stay closer to people likely has much more to do with their antipathy towards male mountain lions than an affection for humans.
Looking at the map, a lot of L.A.'s most exclusive neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades and Calabasas border mountain lions' natural habitat in the Santa Monica Mountains. Looking over to Burbank, it looks like there's at least one animal hanging around in the Verdugos.
To build the above map, scientists examined GPS data returned by the animals' tracking collars and looked for spots that the animals returned to multiple times over multiple days. An animal returning to the same spot over and over again signals that the animal had caught something. After the animal stopped returning to its spot, researchers themselves visited the sites looking for evidence. Deer are, according to the study, the most common food for mountain lions, however researchers also noted they found coyotes and raccoons.
Scientists are conducting lots of very present tense research on mountain lions who live around Los Angeles, studying how the animals adapt to living adjacent one of the world's largest and most developed cities. While the animals are reproducing and having cubs, an unsettling amount are also killed when they attempt to cross freeways. For mountain lions, freeways are often impassable barriers that can strictly limit movement. Eleven animals have been killed in recent years on L.A.'s roads, according to the National Park Service.
Curiously, Los Angeles is one of only two megacities worldwide where people live basically side-by-side with large predatory cats. The other is Mumbai, where people live side-by-side with leopards.
At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.
But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
The Newport Beach City Council approved a new artificial surf park that will replace part of an aging golf course. -
The utility, whose equipment is believed to have sparked the Eaton Fire, says payouts could come as quickly as four months after people submit a claim. But accepting the money means you'll have to forego any lawsuits. -
The City Council will vote Tuesday on a proposal to study raising the pay for construction workers on apartments with at least 10 units and up to 85 feet high. -
The study found recipients spent nearly all the money on basic needs like food and transportation, not drugs or alcohol. -
Kevin Lee's Tokyo Noir has become one of the top spots for craft-inspired cocktails. -
A tort claim obtained by LAist via a public records request alleges the Anaheim procurement department lacks basic contracting procedures and oversight.
Best of LAist