CA Mountain Lion Population May Be Smaller Than Previously Thought

A recent estimate found there may be thousands fewer mountain lions in California than previously thought, according to media reports.

The estimate came out to 3,200 to 4,500 of the big cats, the Los Angeles Times reported. The last estimate was conducted in the 1980s by what was then called the California Department of Fish and Game, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which said the state agency at that time assessed the total at between 4,000 and 6,000 mountain lions.

Some local populations of the pumas are at risk of extinction, the reports said.

Mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains are isolated by roads, which leads to inbreeding, the Chronicle reported. In Southern California, the human threats of vehicles, pest poison and poaching are accompanied by wildfires, according to the Times.

The most dense populations are in the coastal and forested Humboldt and Mendocino counties in the northwestern part of the state, the Times reported, while the least dense are in Inyo County. There are no mountain lions in the Central Valley or parts of the Mojave Desert, according to the Times.

The latest estimate is the result of a collaboration between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the University of California at Davis and at Santa Cruz, the Institute for Wildlife Studies and Audubon Canyon Ranch, the Times reported.