What is California’s mountain lion population?
(FOX40.COM) — Knowing the population of wildlife is important to gain a full understanding of a species’s health and the health of the environment they live in. But what are researchers supposed to do when the elusive mountain lion is the species in question?
The Sequoia National Forest, operated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), says that gaining a statewide mountain lion population will most likely always be a “guesstimate.”
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Researchers know that mountain lions can be found across the United States, Canada, Mexico and parts of South America, but pinpointing their exact population count is nearly impossible.
Rough estimates place California’s mountain lion population somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000, with the most accurate guess being around 4,500, according to the USDA and the Mountain Lion Foundation.
In California, biologists and wildlife researchers have been working for decades to get a clearer picture of what mountain lion populations look like in the Golden State since they gained greater protection from hunting in 1990.
Similar to California’s once abundant wolf population, early settlers and even 20th-century residents found the big cat to be a nuisance for livestock farmers and killed them at any chance.
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According to the USDA, between 1907 and 1963, hunters killed mountain lions purely for the bounty gained from killing the cat.
In 1920, California’s mountain lion population is estimated to have been around 600, according to the USDA.
It would not be until 1990 that mountain lions would gain a “specially protected species” classification under the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990 (Proposition 117).
In May 2020, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife shared that one of their wildlife biologist, Justin Dellinger, had been carrying out a first-of-its-kind project regarding mountain lions.
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Dellinger began capturing and collaring wild mountain lions in 2015 with the goal of creating a comprehensive assessment of California’s mountain lion population.
His work would go on to assist the CDFW’s Mountain Lion Conservation Program, which found that there is a lack of genetic diversity of California’s mountain lion population.
The hypothesis for this lack of genetic diversity is due to natural corridors being blocked by human encroachment into wild spaces.
According to San Diego Parks and Recreation and the USDA, around half of California’s topography is suited for mountain lions and they are known to have home ranges of 20 to 100 square miles depending on if the cat is male or female.
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“On the western slope of the Sierra, where the burgeoning population of lions makes competition for habitat intense, one can expect to find 10 adult lions occupying the same 100 square mile area,” the USDA writes.
Whatever the population of mountain lions may be in California it is important to remember how to ensure your safety while traveling or recreating in their habitat.
In the case of a mountain lion encounter the CDFW has the following recommendations;
• Stay alert on trails. Keep pets leashed and walk with small children, don’t let them run ahead.
• Never approach a mountain lion. Give them an escape route.
• DO NOT RUN. Stay calm. Do not turn your back.
• Face the animal, make loud noises and try to look bigger. If with small children, put them on your shoulders.
• Do not crouch down or bend over.
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