Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Mountain Lion Princes of Malibu


(Image source: US Dept. of Agriculture)

Via the Mountain Lion Foundation's weekly newsletter Cougar Clippings, I read this fascinating blog post (LAist.com) about the mountain lions being tracked in the Santa Monica Mountains. (The Santa Monicas are the coastal mountain range along the Los Angeles Metro Area's northwestern edge).

Here's an excerpt:

"The technology used to track the lions is improving fast. Today, the collars send GPS signals to a satellite that are downloaded at park headquarters in Thousand Oaks. They get a handful of locations every 24 hours, one during the day and one every two hours at night, when they are most active.... The tracking of each cat tells a different story, although their lives are all intertwined. Here's a break down of each..."

The post then goes on to describe the almost soap opera-like interactions (!) of all twelve plus mountain lions being tracked. Read it in its entirety here.