Audubon Canyon Ranch Using GPS Tracking on Sonoma County Mountain Lion
8 Nov 2016
Audubon Canyon Ranch biologists have trapped a mountain lion in Sonoma Valley in order to put a GPS tracking collar on her. The first investigation of its kind for the biologists, the lion, that was sedated, and outfitted with the neck device at the beginning of October, 2016, was then released back into the wild so her movements could be tracked, and studied.
Part of a revolutionary attempt to conserve the remnants of the lions’ Wine Country habitat, the study, led by South African biologist, Quinton Martins involved setting a trap for the mountain lion that had been spotted previously on a wildlife camera.
Martins, and the team, that included two veterinarians, filled a cage with road-kill deer in the 234-acre grounds of Glen Oaks Ranch, a Sonoma Land Trust property set on the border of the Audubon Canyon Ranch Bouverie Preserve in Glen Ellen.
According to ACR spokeswoman Wendy Coy, the team reached the trapped lion within 10 minutes of being alerted to it being in the cage, and using a blowpipe, sedated the creature. The lion, that was named P1 (Puma 1), was then fitted with a GPS tracking device. Estimated to be between eight and ten years old, and weighing 86 pounds, the big cat was measured at more than six feet long.
Approximately an hour after Puma 1 was captured, she was moved elsewhere, and was spotted walking away of her own accord. The next day, on checking the GPS tracking technology data, it was discovered that she had moved up to a higher elevation, but was still within the Glen Oaks grounds.
In a statement released by ACR Executive Director John Petersen, he noted that this is the first animal of its kind that has even been caught, and had a GPS collar attached via a California Department of Fish and Wildlife Scientific Collection permit. He went on to state,
“This project is going to yield invaluable data for conservation efforts not just locally, throughout California.”
Typically, a mountain lion’s territory can cover between 200 and 250 square miles, and using the GPS tracking collars on more lions, researchers hope to discover exactly how many roam the actual area. It is hopes by Martins, that in time, the 1,000-square-mile area being used for the study, will be able to support 50 adult lions under favorable conditions.
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