Mountain Lion Kittens Found In Santa Monica Mountains

MALIBU, CA – Two mountain lion kittens were found earlier this month by National Park Service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists in the central portion of the the Santa Monica Mountains. National Park Service researchers have added the brother and sister to a long-running study of the species in and around the mountain range.

Their mother, P-53, is the youngest female in the study to bear offspring at two years old, which is still within normal range, according to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) press release. The babies, named P-59 and P-60, were their mother's first litter.

The father is suspected to be P-12, pending confirmation of DNA results. He is the only lion documented crossing into the Santa Monica Mountains from the north, SMMNRA said, which brings new genetic material to a population of mountain lions that have low genetic diversity. The suspected father has repeatedly mated in the Santa Monica Mountains, helping to spread these new genes. However, P-12 has also mated with offspring and their offspring, the kind of close inbreeding that reduces genetic diversity over the long-term.

“If P-12 is in fact these kittens’ father, that also means he’s their grandfather, their great grandfather, and their great-great grandfather,” explained Jeff Sikich, a biologist with SMMNRA, a unit of the National Park Service. “Inbreeding to this degree really highlights the need for providing safe passage across the 101 freeway so new mountain lions can enter the population and breed.”

P-12 is suspected to be the father because of two main clues – a resident near the area notified the researchers about hearing mountain lions interact near their property in April, and both P-53 and P-12 were in the area according to P-12's GPS unit and photos of P-53 (whose GPS collar has malfunctioned).

Female mountain lions gestate in 90 days, so Sikich kept an eye on P-53’s movement patterns and, sure enough, she displayed actions of a mother expecting kittens. It’s also entirely possible that another male mated with her around the same time.

P-53 was discovered in 2015 on a camera trap video as a kitten chirping to communicate with her mother, and feeding on a deer at her mother’s kill site. Researchers visited her den and marked one of her siblings who later died, so P-53's existence wasn’t confirmed until her head popped up on camera.

P-59 and P-60 are the 13th litter of kittens marked by National Park Service biologists at a den site. Two additional litters of kittens were discovered when the kittens were already at least six months old, according to SMMNRA. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for overseeing the management and conservation of mountain lions in the state.

Image via Pixabay