California Seeks a Way to Help Mountain Lions Survive Near Cities

A giant wildlife crossing due to open outside Los Angeles this year has become a focal point in efforts to protect mountain lions. The story of P-121, a cub found in a roadside ditch in the Simi Valley with a broken hind leg, illustrates the pressures the animals face.

At about five months old he was taken to the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center on Thanksgiving Day 2023, where X-rays showed a clean break and veterinarians prepared him for surgery and months of rehabilitation. California has added 550 miles of lanes to state highways between 2018 and 2023, and populations on the central coast and in the south have become so beleaguered that the state is expected to declare them threatened under its endangered species law.

Vehicle collisions are common, highways isolate groups and prevent dispersal, and researchers are seeing signs of inbreeding such as abnormal sperm and kinked tails. Rodenticide poisoning and climate-driven wildfire further compound the risks, pushing cats onto landscapes dominated by people.

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