Mountain Lions Roam Neighborhoods in Search of Food, Water, New Habitat — Experts Say

Experts claim that some mountain lions are prowling through neighborhoods looking for food, water, or even a new habitat.

A well-liked urban hiking trail on the Central Coast was closed over the weekend due to numerous reports of mountain lion sightings.

Now, Californian wildlife experts claim that the recent flurry of sightings only accounts for a small portion of the animals' current activity. To reach less densely populated areas or to look for food or water, mountain lions use the wildland area that borders Highway 101 and San Luis Obispo's densely populated corridor as their thoroughfare.

Additionally, it might be a reflection of the animals' cautious travels through the state's numerous urban-wildland interface regions.

Ken Paglia, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that although mountain lions in this area have fairly large ranges, urbanization has fragmented their habitat, making it more common for them to move from one suitable habitat patch to another. As a result, there are more reports of mountain lion sightings in neighborhoods and along the urban fringes of communities.

Mountain Lion Sightings

In the Bay Area, a mountain lion was spotted in 2021 strolling through the Bernal Heights neighborhood in San Francisco, and then again in 2022 at a school in Daly City. The Bay Area Puma Project, in collaboration with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and UC Santa Cruz, maintains an active map listing the locations where mountain lions were spotted recently due to a large number of recent sightings.

The Central Coast's Cerro San Luis, a small peak known simply to residents as Madonna Mountain, has been the focal point of recent sightings of mountain lions. The landmark is 1,292 feet above sea level, has miles of trails for novice and experienced hikers, and provides unhindered views of San Luis Obispo's downtown, the vineyards of Edna Valley and the Pacific Ocean.

Mountain Lion Attacks

Visitors to the Cal Poly Recreation Center in San Francisco were eager to hit the trails again. Mountain lions can roam a 200-mile radius in search of prey and prefer to be out on the prowl at dawn, dusk, and night. Most of all, they prefer to avoid all contact with people. Wildlife specialists caution that if you see a mountain lion, it is probably too late.

A mountain lion attacked a 7-year-old boy in the vicinity of Santa Clarita, California. The unexpected attack was an outlier. In California's 110 years of tracking mountain lion activity, only 20 confirmed mountain lion attacks have occurred. There have been 22 documented mountain lion attacks since 1986 in the state; three of them have resulted in fatalities.

Proposition 117

With the approval of Proposition 117 in 1990, animal protection officially began. Mountain lions now have protected status under the law, which indicates permits to kill them can only be given if they attack livestock, pose a threat to, or do harm to, a person.

Mountain lion populations in California have increased, in part because of Proposition 117. Currently, there are thought to be 4,000-6,000 cats living in this area. However, according to wildlife experts, there is still much to be done to protect the species that once inhabited these hillsides in their tens of thousands.

According to a petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Endangered Species Act will be amended in 2019 to include mountain lions as a candidate species.

If approved, wildlife would be protected in Southern California and the Central Coast within a specified area recognized as an evolutionarily significant unit. Throughout the review period, their population is protected, SFGate reports.