On Monday, the National Park Service听announced a significant loss to a small group of mountain lions in California鈥檚 Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. , an adult male cat,听听by a local landowner听under the state鈥檚 new depredation law. He was presumed to be the father of several other animals who are part of a group the NPS has been tracking for nearly 20 years.
鈥淭he loss of a breeding male is a concern for the study, especially when the population is already very small,鈥 Jeff Sikich, the park service鈥檚 lead field biologist for the project, .听
Other conservationists were more blunt.听鈥淲e are in a dire situation,鈥 says Beth Pratt, the leader of the 听and regional executive director at the National Wildlife Federation.听鈥淧-56 was one of only two known, or collared, males within the region, and we just took him out. What if the other male gets hit by a car tomorrow?鈥澨
When a mountain lion attacks livestock or pets, California laws allow property owners to kill the animal, with a permit, but in 2017, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) made an exception specific to the threatened populations in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains. The so-called 鈥渢hree-strike鈥澨齪olicy requires property owners to use non-lethal means to deter a mountain lion that has attacked pets or livestock. However, if the same cat is responsible for three depredation incidents, the state can grant a land owner听a lethal permit for听the animal.听The incidents involving P-56 took place outside the area covered by the policy, but, according to CDFW, the property owner, who lost 12 animals in nine separate incidents, took several deterrent measures before P-56 was killed.听
Pratt said that she and other conservationists wish they had a chance to help these property owners implement effective measures, so that lethal action could have been avoided.听
Los Angeles is one of only two megacities in the world that limits, giving researchers the opportunity to听monitor how these at-risk predator species adapt to increasingly urbanized and fragmented habitats.听The Santa Monica Mountains are surrounded by the 101 Freeway to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the south, and听highways and development to the east and west, creating an isolated environment听for this group of mountain lions, who face .
The three-strikes policy is aimed at helping Southern California鈥檚 most threatened听big cat populations that have struggled in recent years because of habitat loss and inbreeding (a result of being cut off from other groups of mountain lions). But it appears those efforts aren鈥檛 doing enough.听In the last year, several members of听this community, including at least four adult males, have died or been killed. P-61, a male born in 2015, was killed while trying to cross the 405 Freeway. P-38, a male born in 2012, was illegally shot in the head. A male born in 2013, P-30, died from rat poisoning, which听is also suspected to have caused the death of P-47, a male born in 2015, last March.
The recent deaths pose a grave threat to a group already听lacking genetic diversity. In one illustrative example of the claustrophobic conditions: the mother of P-56鈥檚 four potential offspring (P-70, P-71, P-72, and P-73) is also his grandmother, . (She鈥檚 the same animal known to the Park Service as the because she appears to pose for a game camera.)听The of the cats depends on their ability to mingle with other groups in order to maintain the population鈥檚听overall health.听
A 听currently in the design phase, would include a bridge听over the freeway to听allow the Santa Monica mountain lions to reconnect with surrounding habitats and other cougar populations. Many see it as an integral part of the solution, a sterling example for other species threatened by urbanization and habitat fragmentation. Fundraising for听the $87 million project is well underway, and organizers hope construction will be completed by the end of 2023.听
However, an听overpass may not have precluded the death of P-56. A mountain lion鈥檚 nature is to attack prey, but NPS, CDFW, and other conservationists say that attacks on domestic animals can often be avoided听when are taken, including using properly trained guard dogs and keeping livestock in predator-proof enclosures at night.听
To prevent conditions like those that lead to the death of P-56, Pratt says, 鈥渨e听have to fix this coexistence issue. And the good news is: it鈥檚 possible. These are not hard fixes.鈥
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify the agency that investigated the incident and the extent of the property owner's deterrent measures.听