Two Young Pumas Discovered In Local Hills

LOS ANGELES, CA — There are two things that tickle us here at Patch: wild animal sightings and puns. So, National Park Service Ranger Ana Beatriz made our day this week when she wrote on facebook: “I saw two cougars and it almost made me puma pants.”

“Meet P-78 and P-79!,” added Beatriz, and with that she nailed the introduction of the latest two mountain lions collared in the study of LA’s big cats

Both lions are young males. P-79 was captured in the backyard of a home in Simi Hills on Dec. 12 and moved to nearby open space in the Santa Susana Mountains. P-78, a subadult male, was captured the day before in the central portion of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Wildlife officials put GPS tracking collars on the animals before setting them free. The collars help wildlife officials understand mountain lion behavior and their movement through the mountains — and neighborhoods — of Los Angeles.

“For instance, if it hadn’t been for the collars, we would not know that mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains are pretty much trapped on an island of habitat and that there is inbreeding,” wrote Beatriz. “They also help us understand home range size, diet, survival rates, landscape use, frequency and location of road crossings, and causes of mortality.”