Mountain Lion Cubs Found through the Use of GPS Tracking
5 May 2016In Thousand Oaks, California, two mountain lion kittens, a male and a female, were located in the Santa Monica Mountains. The kittens were discovered in a very well-hidden den by biologists with the National Park Service and were tagged with GPS tracking devices. Both cubs were given handles so that they could easily be distinguished via the tracking devices they were outfitted with; the female’s handle is P-46 and the male’s handle is P-47.
Officials with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area believe that a female mountain lion, who has also been fitted with a GPS tracking device and whose handle is P-19, is the mother. The reason officials believe this is because of her activity during a three-week stretch, which was tracked by her GPS device. During that three-week period, mountain lion P-19 remained in a localized area, and since finding the cubs, officials believe that she is their mother and was staying in the den to care for her newborns.
Mountain lion P-19 was fitted with a GPS tracking device in 2010, when she was only a few weeks old. Since then, officials have been tracking her activity and have learned that she has birthed other litters that were fathered by her own father, who is also fitted with a tracking device and has been given the handle P-12.
Officials are currently trying to determine who the father of the newest mountain lion cubs are. They aren’t sure if P-12 is the father of the recently discovered kittens, as he has not been spotted since March of last year. Scientists are hopeful that DNA testing will determine whether he is or is not the father. If P-12 isn’t the father, it is believed that there is a new male on the scene.
Researchers are so interested in determining who the father of these kittens is because interbreeding among these animals is becoming a serious threat among the species. As with all species of animals, interbreeding can result in deformities, which can have a significant negative impact on the future of the animals.
Officials will continue to monitor the activity of the mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains in hopes that they can help the species survive and thrive.
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