Southern - Study Wildlife Health Center – UC Davis Winston Vickers and Walter Boyce

The Nature Conservancy Scott Morrison, Carole Bell, Trish Smith, Brian Cohen

Orange Co. Parks Donna Krucki • Short, squat musculature, long, lithe frame. • Powerful posterior, heavy tail. • Narrow shoulders for maneuverability. • Average wts. – Females 70 – 90 pounds, Males 130 – 160 pounds The Frequency of Feeding

• Lifespan – up to 12 years in the wild, and 25+ in captivity (oldest in our study is 8 – 10 years) • Litter size 2 – 4 kittens • Kittens surviving to adulthood – 1 – 2 • Kittens stay with mother to ~1 ½ years of age • Energetic needs (source -Ackerman – Utah State): – Adult cougar - 1 deer every 16 days, a female and three 3-month olds, 1 deer every 9 days Camouflaged

Southern California Project - Began in 2001

Research focus: •Landscape connectivity – Barriers to movement - Corridors •Genetics, Health, and Disease / Toxin Exposure •Minimizing conflicts between people, , and domestic animals •Bighorn – Deer – Cougar – Bobcat interactions Critical habitat linkages that we are studying Studying pumas

Cameras document collared and uncollared pumas

Capture and check health – Take blood, DNA, feces, GPS collar Drag Mark > Track movements and behavior Relatively small cage traps are effective for cougar capture Traps are monitored by radio continuously once set

Traps checked within ½ - 1 hour of door closing Little apparent stress Lions often feed on deer in trap Anesthetized cougar

Monitoring vital signs under anesthesia

Taking measurements

Front paw of male cougar Checking teeth

Weighing sedated male cougar Applying GPS collar Examining cougar kitten

Tracking collar radio signals

Recording data 65 mountain lions captured

57 radio-collared (56 GPS, 1 VHF) one or more times

90+ mountain lions sampled for DNA, disease, and toxins Data points are clear evidence of habitat use and movement

However, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” Life through the eyes of a lion

Community Science Most of mountain and foothill areas of are cougar habitat, but much is fragmented and quality varies widely Burdett et al, Ecosphere Aug 2010: -Approximately 10% of the study area will transform from exurban, rural, or undeveloped areas to suburban or urban by 2030, and 35% of suitable puma habitat on private land in 1970 will have been lost by 2030. - Cougars in fragmented or exurban habitat are at significantly higher mortality risk than those in rural or wild lands 30 of 56 (54%) collared cougars Risks to southern and 1 captured but uncollared cougar are confirmed to have died California cougars while circulating in the wild

Over half of the mortalities of cougars while circulating in the wild were directly related to humans, suggesting similar impacts are likely in the rest of the cougar population:

Car strikes (20%) Depredation permits (20%) Disease confirmed or likely (17%) Unknown cause (13%) Illegal shootings (13%) Fire – human set (6%) Shootings deemed legal (3%) 1 lion (F20 above) Another cougar (3%) was shot but Unknown but trauma suspected survived (3%) Freeways, development, and border defense are barriers to mt. lion movement Datapoints from each individual mountain lion are a different color Datapoints are cumulative for the entire time of the study and do not represent the numbers or locations of mountain lions present at any given point in time.

Cumulative mt. lion data points in the Santa Ana Mtns – 5 years of data. Genetics findings

• Ernest et al, Conservation Genetics, 2003

• Used samples from multiple studies across the state, including ours and Paul Beiers’

• Lions in the Santa Ana Mtn’s showed the greatest genetic isolation among the 8 subpopulations studied in California at that time Fire Effects

Santiago Fire outline (red hatch) superimposed on F44 territory F44 in these hills when fire began

©Scott Vickers Outline of San Diego County’s Cedar Fire superimposed on Santa Ana Mts. with lion territories plotted – fire of this magnitude could have a significant impact on this lion population Recent first documented dispersal out of Santa Anas to Palomars and beyond by a collared lion (M56)

Recent first documented crossing of US-Mexico border by collared lion (M53) Daytime appearance of Gopher Canyon undercrossing where M56 apparently crossed in the middle of the night, though may have crossed the freeway at grade

Pavement is 4 lanes wide through the undercrossing

Photo taken looking east – his direction of travel M56 dispersal path

North and west San Diego Co. conserved lands that M56 and other cougars move through are highly fragmented

M56 killed here on depredation permit related to inadequately protected sheep Coal Canyon undercrossing into Chino Hills – no confirmed use by radiocollared cougars

Both cougars struck on the 91 Fwy in 2008 were within a short distance of the undercrossing, and were struck during early morning rush hour approximately 6:30 AM

Red crosses denote Datapoints from each individual approximate sites where mountain lion are a different color cougars have been struck Datapoints are cumulative for the by cars 2003-2010 entire time of the study and do not represent the numbers or locations of mountain lions present at any given point in time. If you build it will they always use it?

Culvert 50 meters from where F50 was struck by car One of 3 within a half mile stretch of the site No tall fencing present to funnel wildlife into safe passages Northern Santa Ana Mtns Following slides move south along eastern escarpment .Cougars routinely utilize the lower ridges, canyons, and escarpment between and around “fingers” of development

Datapoints from each individual mountain lion are a different color Datapoints are cumulative for the entire time of the study and do not represent the numbers or locations of mountain lions present at any given point in time. Datapoints from each individual mountain lion are a different color Datapoints are cumulative for the entire time of the study and do not represent the numbers or locations o mountain lions present at any given point in time. Datapoints from each individual mountain lion are a different color Datapoints are cumulative for the entire time of the study and do not represent the numbers or locations of mountain lions present at any given point in time. Datapoints from each individual mountain lion are a different color Datapoints are cumulative for the entire time of the study and do not represent the numbers or locations o mountain lions present at any given point in time. Datapoints from each individual Cougars utilize narrow mountain lion are a different color strips of remaining habitat Datapoints are cumulative for the along escarpment as one entire time of the study and do not of 2 remaining wild habitat represent the numbers or locations of pathways to and from the mountain lions present at any given Santa Rosa Plateau point in time. Reserve

LaCresta Community

Santa Rosa Plateau M26 Data Points Lake Elsinore

<<< Interstate 15

LaCresta

M26 shot here >

The Tenaja corridor is the most protected pathway allowing cougars to move between the Santa Rosa Plateau and conserved habitat to the west. However, cougars are likely exposed to increased edge effects due to the corridor’s patchy character Datapoints from each individual mountain lion are a different color Datapoints are cumulative for the entire time of the study and do not represent the numbers or locations of mountain lions present at any given point in time. Red dots represent all mt. lion datapoints to date in the area of the Santa Ana to Palomar Mountains corridor Santa Ana to Palomar Red dots represent all mt. lion Mt.’s Linkage datapoints to date in the area of the Santa Ana to Palomar Mt.’s linkage. Red lines connect datapoints that are adjacent to each other in time. Red lines do not represent exact paths traveled by mt. lions between any 2 data points. Possible future disruptions of Santa Ana to Palomar Mountains corridor Proposed gravel mine, highway interchange, and high speed rail line

Red dots represent all mt. lion datapoints to date in the area of the Santa Ana to Palomar Mt.’s linkage. Red lines connect datapoints that are adjacent to each other in time. Red lines do not represent exact paths traveled by mt. lions between any 2 data points. Temecula Creek Bridge and culverts are regarded as primary potential I-15 crossing points, but no collared cougars have utilized them to date

Datapoints from each individual mountain lion are a different color Datapoints are cumulative for the entire time of the study and do not represent the numbers or locations of mountain lions present at any given point in time.

M56 chose to cross at a highway undercrossing located in a matrix of ag lands, residences, and fragmented wildlands Roads and barriers

• Busy roads are both barriers to cougar movement and hazards to them and other wildlife when crossing is attempted

• Most roads and highways in southern California have no effective restrictions to cougars entering the roadway, and some have few other options for safe wildlife crossing

• Cougars and deer sometimes enter roadways, if not prevented from doing so by fencing, even when safer crossing options are nearby. This may occur in relation to behavioral, energetic, situational, geographic / habitat, or other reasons that are poorly understood at this time.

• Preservation and improvement of existing safe crossing points, or creation of new crossing structures, may increase the ability of cougars to safely move between habitat patches Habitat use • Cougars utilize wildlands at the edges of suburban development, and even golf courses, as well as trails used by humans, but typically from dusk to dawn, and are rarely seen.

• Deer and other wildlife prey of cougars can be attracted to these areas because of water sources and other food such as planted vegetation and pet food left out

• Our surveys have shown that residents favor the continued presence of mountain lions, but that nearly half of owners of domestic animals in lion habitat do not currently adequately protect their animals at night

• Use of habitat near human development appears to increase cougar exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides, and possibly disease transmitted by domestic cats or attracted to food sources associated with humans Barriers to Habitat Connectivity

• The largest barriers to connectivity between blocks of habitat appear to be roads, especially freeways, and development

• Freeways like I-15 and the 91 Freeway have very few remaining suitable passages that allow wildlife like mountain lions to cross safely

• Mountain lions (including a number of study lions) are killed regularly while trying to cross these and other roads and freeways

• The Mexican border with its extensive fencing and human presence creates a different kind of barrier to wildlife movement Research helps us continue to better understand puma behavior, disease, and habitat needs.

Information can help scarce conservation dollars be most effectively used The UC Davis Wildlife Health Center is dedicated to balancing the needs of people, wildlife, and the environment. We seek to restore and maintain wildlife, human and environmental health. We use science, technology and education as our tools.