Mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains
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The Santa Monica Mountains mountain range, part of the Transverse Ranges in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, is known for its population of mountain lions (Puma concolor). Mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains are one of only two instances of large wild cats living in a megacity, the other being leopards in Mumbai, India.[1][2] The most notable mountain lion in the range was P-22, which lived in Griffith Park, was photographed in front of the Hollywood Sign, and was featured on the cover of National Geographic.[3]
Area
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The Santa Monica Mountains extend approximately 40 miles (60 km)[4] from the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles to Point Mugu in Ventura County.[5] Although heavily developed, much of the range has been preserved as local, state, or national parkland, the largest of which is the 153,075 acres (619.47 km2) Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.[6]
Mountain lions are territorial and require ample acreage to find food and mates. The home range of a single mountain lion can be as large as 128,000 acres (520 km2). The mountain lion area in the Santa Monica Mountains (west of I-405 and south of US-101) can support 10 to 15 lions, not including kittens.[7]
History
[edit]Mountain lions have lived in the Santa Monica Mountains since before the arrival of Europeans[8] (the Gabrieleño/Tongva language word for Puma concolor is tukuurot)[9] and despite the range's relatively small area, the population has remained stable.[1]
Long term survival of mountain lions in the range is threatened by several factors, especially the isolation of their habitat by freeways. This isolation, which started when the Ventura Freeway was constructed in the 1950s and was exacerbated by housing developments alongside it, has led to inbreeding, as the area now has almost no new DNA entering it. Genetic analyses in the 2000s revealed that the Santa Monica Mountains mountain lion population had the second lowest level of genetic diversity ever documented amongst large carnivores in North America, the lowest being Florida panthers in the mid-1990s.[10]
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Other threats to the Santa Monica Mountains mountain lion population include wildlife-vehicle collisions, anticoagulant rodenticides, and intraspecific conflict.[11] According to the National Park Service, 32 mountain lions in or near the Santa Monicas were killed by wildlife-vehicle collisions between 2002 and 2022; 28 of 29 mountain lions tested for anticoagulant compounds tested positive, including seven fatal cases; and intraspecific conflict, while common in the species, is exacerbated by the small and now isolated nature of the Santa Monicas.[1][7]
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In 2016, researchers from the National Park Service, UCLA, UC Davis, and Utah State University predicted that without significant changes, the Santa Monica Mountains mountain lions could become extinct within 50 years.[12] In 2020, researchers found the first evidence of physical abnormalities in the population.[13] The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which will connect the Santa Monica Mountains across US-101 to the Simi Hills, is meant to prevent this. The crossing, which cost $90 million ($96.7 million in 2024), most of which was raised through private donations, broke ground in 2022.[14] It is expected to be completed in 2026, at which point it will become the largest wildlife crossing in the world.[15]
Additional legal protection for mountain lions throughout California was provided in 2020, when the state signed AB 1788 into law. This law prohibits most uses of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides statewide.[16]
Diet
[edit]Mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains primarily dine on mule deer. Of the 400+ documented kills by mountain lions in the area between 2002 and 2014, 95% were mule deer.[17]
Individual mountain lions
[edit]In 2002, the National Park Service began tracking individual mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding areas. More than 100 mountain lions have been tracked since.[7]
Santa Monica Mountains
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Notable individuals whose home range was in the Santa Monica Mountains include:[7]
- P-1: the dominant male from 2002 to 2009, the largest and oldest to be tracked, and with P-6 the first documented case of inbreeding in the area[10]
- P-2: P-1's mate who was killed by P-1 when she tried to protect her male offspring from him[18]
- P-6: P-1 and P-2's daughter who mated with P-1
- P-12: The dominant male from 2009 to 2015 who entered the range, replaced P-1 in the western end, and provided a genetic rescue. Also contributed to the second and third documented cases of inbreeding in the area, with P-19 and P-23, respectively.[10][19][20]
- P-19: P-12's daughter who mated with him[21]
- P-22: dispersed across I-405, US-101, and into Griffith Park, where he was photographed in front of the Hollywood Sign and featured on the cover of National Geographic[3]
- P-23: P-12's daughter and granddaughter who mated with him[22]
- P-27: the dominant male from 2013 (or earlier) to 2017 in the range's eastern end[23]
- P-45: the dominant male from 2015 to 2019 in the range's western end[24][25]
- P-47: was large enough to become a dominant male but died before he established himself as one[26]
- P-53: P-12's daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter who possibly mated with him[19]
- P-74: likely died in the Woolsey Fire, possibly with his untracked mother[27]
- P-81: had physical abnormalities, including a kinked tail and one undescended testicle[28]
- P-98: attacked a small child, the first verified occurrence of a mountain lion attacking a human in Los Angeles County in more than 25 years, and was subsequently killed by a wildlife officer[29]
Surrounding areas
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There are additional mountain lions in the areas surrounding the Santa Monica Mountains, particularly in the Santa Susana Mountains. Some of them originate from the Santa Monicas; others approached the Santa Monicas but turned back rather than attempting to cross US-101; and even more have no connection to the Santa Monicas other than living near them. These mountain lions include:[7]
- P-3 and P-4: daughter and mother who separately regularly crossed SR-118 between the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains. Either or both may have originated in the Santa Monicas
- P-16: dominant male in the Los Padres National Forest near Lake Piru, just north of the Santa Susanas
- P-32 and P-33: siblings who separately were the first two tracked mountain lions to disperse out of the Santa Monicas to the north[30]
- P-41: first mountain lion tracked to the Verdugo Mountains[31]
- P-63: repeatedly crossed US-101 using a method unknown to researchers[32]
- P-64: learned to use a culvert to safely and repeatedly cross US-101[33]
- P-91 and P-92: siblings whose mother died when they were kittens and after an unsuccessful foster attempt were relocated to the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale, Arizona[34]
- P-101 and P-103: Siblings who were relocated to the Orange County Zoo after being abandoned by their mother. Two additional siblings (P-100 and P-102) did not survive the abandonment[35]
- P-106: has a kinked tail, possibly due to a genetic abnormality, despite living in the un-isolated Santa Susanas[36]
See also
[edit]- Asiatic lion § Distribution and habitat
- BB-12 (black bear)
- Fauna of the Santa Monica Mountains
- List of wild animals from Los Angeles
- Urban coyote
- Urban red foxes
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Lions in the Santa Monica Mountains". National Park Service. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ Larson, Christina; Ghosal, Aniruddha (June 30, 2022). "Big cats in urban jungle: LA mountain lions, Mumbai leopards". Associated Press.
- ^ a b Dell'Amore, Christine (December 14, 2022). "How this photo turned a reclusive mountain lion into a Hollywood icon". National Geographic. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022.
- ^ "Santa Monica Mountains". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ "The Largest Urban Park In The USA". Santa Monica Mountains Fund. May 23, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ "Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Frequently Asked Questions". National Park Service. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Puma Profiles". National Park Service. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
- ^ Guerin, Emily (August 30, 2016). "Will the mountain lions of the Santa Monica Mountains die out?". LAist.
- ^ Stone, Erin (April 12, 2025). "Wildlife is returning to the Altadena foothills after the Eaton Fire. Yes, that's a mountain lion". LAist. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
- ^ a b c Stokstad, Erik (August 14, 2014). "The real mountain lions of LA County". Science.
- ^ Sahagún, Louis (February 2, 2023). "California is turning mountain lions into roadkill faster than they can reproduce". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Local Mountain Lion Population Faces Precipitous Decline in Genetic Diversity Within 50 Years, Possible Extinction". National Park Service. August 30, 2016.
- ^ Carlson, Cheri (September 9, 2020). "Mountain lion found in Santa Monica Mountains might be first with physical abnormalities". Ventura County Star. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- ^ "California groundbreaking set for largest wildlife crossing". Associated Press. March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
- ^ "World's largest wildlife crossing on track to open by early 2026". State of California. May 7, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
- ^ "Support California Assembly Bill 1788". Mountain Lion Foundation. September 29, 2020.
- ^ "Mountain Lion Family Feast Caught on Camera". NBC News. March 3, 2014.
- ^ Booth, William (October 1, 2005). "The Lion Creeps Tonight". Washington Post.
- ^ a b Wakim, Marielle (August 29, 2017). "Two Precious Mountain Lion Kittens Have Been Found in the Santa Monica Mountains". Los Angeles.
- ^ Kim, Jed (March 20, 2015). "Inbred mountain lion crosses the 101 Freeway". LAist.
- ^ "Mountain lions inbreeding". Los Angeles Times. January 8, 2014.
- ^ "4 New Mountain Lion Kittens Discovered In Santa Monica Mountains". KCAL News. September 5, 2018.
- ^ Fonseca, Ryan (October 26, 2017). "Well-known LA mountain lion dead, new male found in Santa Monica Mountains". Los Angeles Daily News.
- ^ Smythe, Ryan (December 4, 2015). "National Parks Service Surprised by Mountain Lion in Santa Monica Mountains". NBC Los Angeles.
- ^ "What happened to mountain lion P-45?". Mountain Lion Foundation. June 18, 2019.
- ^ Bloom, Tracy (April 30, 2019). "Mountain Lion P-47 Found Dead in Santa Monica Mountains; Rat Poison Suspected: NPS". KTLA.
- ^ Wisckol, Martin (November 27, 2018). "Woolsey fire likely killed young P-74 mountain lion". Los Angeles Daily News.
- ^ "P-81 First Mountain Lion Found With Genetic Abnormalities In Santa Monica Mountains". CBS News. September 9, 2020.
- ^ Salahieh, Nouran; McGraw, Jennifer (August 28, 2021). "Mountain lion killed after attacking 5-year-old boy in his front yard near Calabasas". KTLA.
- ^ Serna, Joseph (May 16, 2018). "Mountain lions are being killed on freeways and weakened by inbreeding. Researchers have a solution". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Groves, Martha (May 29, 2015). "Meet the Verdugo Mountains' very own mountain lion: P-41". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "3 mountain lion kittens born in Santa Monica Mountains". ABC News. June 4, 2020.
- ^ "How the deaths of mountain lions have some worried about losing them entirely from the Santa Monicas". KCLU. June 23, 2023.
- ^ "2 orphaned mountain lion kittens from Simi Hills sent to sanctuary after failed foster attempt". ABC News. October 2, 2020.
- ^ Hall, Carla (December 10, 2021). "The short, sad life of the mountain lion kitten known as P-100". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Mountain Lion Litter Born in Santa Monica Mountains". Santa Monica Mirror. December 9, 2022.