Lifeline For Pumas: California Strikes Towards Endangered Species Protections For Mountain Lions

Photographs of mountain lions in Orange County, CA, by Mark Girardeau

California wildlife officers introduced this week that protections for a number of mountain lion populations, from the Bay Space and Central Coast to Southern California, are warranted below the California Endangered Species Act. The ultimate resolution will come from the California Fish and Sport Fee in February, marking a doubtlessly historic step for the state’s iconic pumas.

For years, World Animal Information has reported on the heartbreaking and devastating lack of mountain lions throughout Southern California. Many have died gradual, agonizing deaths from rodenticide poisoning, whereas others have been struck and killed on busy highways as their shrinking habitat forces them to cross harmful roads. These repeated tragedies spotlight precisely why these cats want stronger, everlasting protections.

“That is great information for pumas throughout Southern California and the Central Coast, who desperately want our assist,” mentioned Sofia Prado-Irwin, Ph.D., a employees scientist on the Heart for Organic Range. “These majestic cats have suffered a lot from habitat destruction and car strikes, and it’s no surprise that state wildlife specialists are calling for everlasting protections. It is a likelihood to indicate how California prioritizes and protects the wildlife that makes this state such an incredible place to stay.”

The advice follows a petition by the Heart for Organic Range and the Mountain Lion Basis urging protections for six genetically distinct mountain lion populations. These huge cats have struggled with more and more fragmented habitat, lethal car collisions, and widespread rat poison contamination, all of that are pushing some populations towards the brink.

In 2020, the fee granted momentary protections whereas the Division of Fish and Wildlife performed a full standing overview. That overview, launched this week, formally requires the everlasting safety of six key mountain lion teams within the Santa Cruz Mountains, Central Coast, Santa Monica Mountains, San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, Santa Ana Mountains, and Japanese Peninsular ranges.

“These mountain lions stay in such fractured habitats right here due to people. They’re a keystone species and these protections are very important to their survival,” Mark Girardeau, a Southern California based mostly wildlife photographer, who has spent 11 years monitoring mountain lions on path cams, advised WAN. “Sadly, they aren’t dwelling out their pure life cycles, they’re getting hit by automobiles, poisoned by rodenticides, and have genetic breeding issues.”

The California Fish and Sport Fee is anticipated to make its ultimate resolution throughout a two-day assembly on February 11 and 12. For the state’s remaining mountain lions, a lot of whom proceed to face lethal threats annually, these protections may very well be the lifeline they desperately want.

World Animal Information will proceed to observe developments and advocate for California’s mountain lions till they obtain the complete protections they deserve.