DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Santa Monica’s Mountain Lions Caught on Camera

Mar 12, 2015 by Liron Samuels Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

1

Mountain lions, also known as pumas or cougars, are one of the largest and most powerful predators in the United States. Despite that, they are reclusive and tend to stay away from people, making it very difficult to photograph them.

A National Parks Service biologist was able to track a deer carcass thanks to the GPS coordinates from one of the mountain lions’ tracking collars, and hike to the location during the day to setup a remote camera while the animals were away. Come night time, the lions returned to the carcass and were surprised to see an unknown flashing contraption that had mysteriously shown up.

While this is not the first time mountain lions were captured by a remote camera, the animals captured in these images might account for up to a third of the entire Santa Monica Mountains population.

Ranger Kate of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area posted a bit of background information regarding the specific cats captured in this set of images:

“New photos of P-19 and her two nearly-grown kittens, P-32 and P-33, feeding on a deer carcass (WARNING: graphic photos). Kittens normally stay with their mother until they are about one to one and a half years old. One of the siblings, P-34, had already dispersed and it appears that these kittens may have also left their mom since the photos were taken in mid-February.

This is P-19’s second litter and we’ve been tracking all three kittens since they were four weeks old. Since we started studying these animals in 2002, we have not tracked any male mountain lions that have successfully dispersed out of the Santa Monica Mountains. Photos taken via remote camera on the western end of the Santa Monica Mountains, near the L.A. and Ventura County line”.

Unlike some predators that live in close quarters to humans, the low number of animals is not the biggest problem for the Santa Monica Mountains population. “The problem (at this point) isn’t so much that there are a shortage of animals”, says Ranger Kate, “but rather that the inability to move around to larger territories (and for younger animals to disperse) means that only or two males dominate all the breeding opportunities”.

It is estimated there are 10-15 of these dexterous cats living in the Santa Monica Mountains with freeways constricting their movement and separating them from nearby populations:

“Mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains are trapped on an island of habitat. They’re hemmed in by the 405 and 101 Freeways, as well as the Pacific Ocean and the Oxnard agricultural plain”.

With the cats being confined in such a small territory, with just two dominant males, they face the problems linked with inbreeding and the future doesn’t seem promising:

“We have already documented multiple cases of first-order inbreeding and that situation is not expected to improve unless there is improved connectivity between the population south of the 101 Freeway and the larger mountain lion population located to the north, including the Santa Susana Mountains”.

Apparently the land on both sides of a proposed crossing is already in public ownership, but there is no funding for the overpass or tunnel over or under the freeway.

Hopefully the necessary funds will be raised before it is too late and the tiny population of these amazing creatures suffers irreversible damage.

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

2

All photos courtesy of the National Park Service.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailGopro Captured Footage Of Man And Lions Bro-Wrestling (In A Good Way) Photographing Lions From 4 Meters Distance Watch A Drone Getting Eaten By A Pride Of Lions In Santa’s Sleigh Tracks: Watch The International Space Station Crossing The Moon

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Conservation, Cougar, Los Angeles, Mountain Lion, nature, Puma, Remote Camera, wildlife

Liron Samuels: from diyphotography.net

About Liron Samuels

Liron Samuels is a wildlife and commercial photographer based in Israel.

When he isn't waking up at 4am to take photos of nature, he stays awake until 4am taking photos of the night skies or time lapses.

You can see more of his work on his website or follow him on Facebook.

« Ten Beliefs That Suck the Life out of Photographers
Discover The Beauty Of Hairless Cats In This Striking Portrait Collection Of Sphynxes »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Watch: Amateur astronomer captures a rare giant fireball on Jupiter
  • AI-generated deepfake nude images of school girls shake Spanish town
  • The Nikkor S Plena is a 135mm f/1.8 Z mount portrait lens
  • Meta promises you’ll soon be able to delete Threads without deleting Instagram
  • Getty jumps on the generative AI bandwagon

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy