The Neighbor You Never See: Keeping Mountain Lions in Our Midst
Mountain Lion-
We've Got Wildlife
- The Bay Area has a richness of species found in only a few other places on the planet. The confluence of wildly varied geology and a Mediterranean climate promotes California’s diverse wildlife as well as a profusion of endemic species—those that occur nowhere else. This richness of life creates a responsibility on our part to protect what we have inherited, and POST meets the challenge by protecting the land on which we all depend.
- Known as mountain lion, cougar, puma and panther, the elusive “cat of one color” has inspired more names—40 in English alone— than perhaps any other animal in the world. Native to the Americas, mountain lions have the largest geographic range of any carnivore in the Western Hemisphere and can be found from the Yukon to the southern Andes. Here in the Bay Area, lions are known to roam the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo and Gabilan ranges.
- Despite their adaptability, mountain lions need one thing that is in increasingly short supply: space. “An essential part of POST’s mission is to preserve land for wildlife habitat,” says POST President Audrey Rust. “We take a big-picture approach to land protection, connecting large swaths of open space when possible so that no property is an island but, rather, part of a strategic network of lands that help meet the needs of all animal species, including the mountain lion.”
- Solitary and extremely territorial, a male mountain lion needs about 100 square miles of land (64,000 acres) in which to roam, while females need about half that space. They prefer areas with plenty of cover from which to ambush deer, their favorite prey.
- Today, stable populations of mountain lions exist in only 12 western U.S. states and two western Canadian provinces. California has an estimated population of 4,000 to 6,000 lions, thanks in part to Proposition 117, the California Wildlife Protection Act, passed by voters in 1990. The law, which remains the only one of its kind in the country, prohibits sport hunting of mountain lions in California and funds wildlife habitat protection. Most importantly, Prop. 117 recognizes the need to protect the pathways of land, also known as “wildlife corridors,” that lions and other animals use to move from one area to another.
- For mountain lions, these pathways are critical. By nature, lions already limit their own population with small litters and the need for large home ranges. When obstacles posed by freeways, fences and subdivisions block their natural corridors, the odds get stacked against them. Experts say protecting habitat pathways is the key to maintaining healthy populations of lions here and elsewhere. Corridors from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Diablo and Gabilan ranges need to be kept open for local lions to survive. Without them, the big cats get forced into genetic isolation, which eventually threatens the survival of the species.
- Recent studies suggest that giving mountain lions room to roam is good not just for their health, but for the entire ecosystem. Protecting one species like the mountain lion has positive impacts for other species. For example, as top predators, lions keep deer populations in check, limiting adverse impacts on vegetation and soil erosion. Ideally a mountain lion eats one deer per week, but lions also feed on mice, rabbits, beavers, porcupines, skunks, coyotes, bear cubs, grouse, wild turkeys and fish. With the exception of fish, the wild creatures on the lion’s menu can proliferate to nuisance levels when this top predator is removed.
- Scientists say that understanding how lions and other wildlife use corridors to move between mountain ranges— and giving such corridors permanent protection—is paramount to ensuring the animals’ long-term survival. Researchers in the Bay Area have long postulated that mountain lions travel between home ranges in Santa Cruz and south Santa Clara counties to other parts of the state. One possible route cuts across Coyote Valley, south of downtown San Jose, and the other through the Pajaro Valley, which separates the Santa Cruz and Gabilan ranges to the south.
- Last year, researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz embarked on the first field study of mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains. While findings are preliminary, the researchers believe the Santa Cruz Mountains are home to as many as 30 to 70 lions. In addition, recent fieldwork conducted by students in De Anza Community College’s environmental studies program has identified the presence of mountain lions in parts of Coyote Valley.
- POST has long recognized the importance of connecting land. Providing room for wildlife is just one of many reasons for preserving properties contiguous to already protected open space and parkland. This approach enhances the land’s value for outdoor recreation and visual enjoyment as well.
- In south Santa Clara County, POST has completed several major projects over the past 20 years in the Santa Cruz Mountain range that have added to the region’s network of open space and habitat. At the southern tip of Almaden Valley, Rancho San Vicente sits just a few minutes west of Coyote Valley in the heart of more than 30,000 acres of protected lands linking wildlife corridors, hiking trails and scenic vistas. Instead of hundreds of tightly packed homes on Rancho’s rolling hills and meadows, animals will be able to roam freely on the property, which includes 506 acres of rare and valuable serpentine soils that provide potential habitat for many species.
- At least one resident mountain lion has been observed here. An eight-year-old male that covers a huge range from Lexington Reservoir to Uvas Reservoir was identified last year by the UC Santa Cruz team using a collar fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit. Last October, the collar ceased working and scientists feared the cat was dead, but in late November several cameras captured evidence that he was alive and well.
- It’s likely the collared mountain lion also makes its rounds through other POST-protected properties nearby. In 1999, POST saved 2,438-acre Rancho Cañada del Oro on the outskirts of San Jose, now a stunning open space preserve. From its hilltops, mountain lions can gaze upon the Diablo Range. POST later transferred the land to Santa Clara County Parks and the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (SCCOSA). Blair Ranch, which POST helped SCCOSA acquire in 2008, is also prime mountain lion habitat. The 865-acre property, along with two others saved by POST totaling 192 acres along the Santa Cruz ridgeline, have been added to Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve, creating even more room for the big cats to roam.
- “POST has been successful in linking thousands of acres of critical habitat in the region, but much more needs to be done,” says Rust. “We rely on the generous support of donors, local landowners and the community to continue this urgent work on behalf of all the life that thrives on these remarkably rich and vibrant lands.”
- Conservationists agree that it’s not possible, or practical, to preserve all mountain lion habitat. The area required is simply too large. But what is possible— indeed, necessary—is to connect the critical lands that support lions and other wildlife. Currently in the Santa Cruz Mountains, there is great risk of severing habitat and pathways by allowing development to creep further into the range. Climate change is another ongoing concern. As temperatures rise and habitat zones shift, lions and other large mammals will need somewhere to go, and a way to get there. With your help, POST can continue the important work of protecting and linking wildlife habitat. Only this way can magnificent creatures like the mountain lion keep their place alongside us as the elusive, mysterious neighbors we rarely see, but who enrich our world by their presence.
Protecting Pathways
Mountain Lion and CubsTop Predator is Essential
Home on the Range
Humanity for Habitat
Connection is Critical