To avoid people, mountain lions (Puma concolor) in the greater Los Angeles area are changing their activity patterns. The big cats that live near areas where humans hike, run, and cycle are becoming increasingly more nocturnal than the mountain lions who live in more remote areas. The findings are detailed in a study published November 15 in the journal Biological Conservation.
“People are increasingly enjoying recreating in nature, which is fantastic,” study co-author and University of California Davis Ph.D candidate Ellie Bolas said in a statement. “This flexibility we see in mountain lion activity is what allows us to share these natural areas together. Mountain lions are doing the work so that coexistence can happen.”
[Related: How to survive a mountain lion encounter.]
Mountain lions are top carnivorous predators that eat a wide variety of meat including deer, wild pigs, rabbits, and coyotes. While mountain lion attacks on humans are rare, they can still be dangerous to hikers, runners, or cyclists who spend time in their habitats. The mountain lions in the Los Angeles area face numerous challenges–busy roadways where they’re often hit by cars, the threat of wildfires, exposure to rodenticide, low genetic diversity, and a fragmented habitat. Generally, mountain lions prefer to avoid humans altogether. But in a metropolitan area home to more than 18 million people, the natural spots where mountain lions and other wildlife live are also heavily used by recreationists.
In the new study, the team was curious to see if and how mountain lions were adjusting their activity in response to recreationists. They monitored the movements of 22 mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains and the surrounding region of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area between 2011 and 2018.
The lions were also fitted with a GPS and accelerometer collars as part of a long-term study conducted by biologists from the National Park…
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