Simi Hills is currently home to three healthy female mountain lions. Their names are P-113, P-114 and P-115.
The mountain lion named P-77 that gave birth to the trio was found last week nestled in a dense poison oak forest in the hills between the Santa Susana and Santa Monica mountain ranges, according to reports. National Park Service.
The kittens were about 24 days old when National Park Service biologists discovered their burrow northeast of Thousand Oaks. Biologists tracked mountain lions as part of a 20-year study with the state.
“It will be interesting to see how these kittens will use the landscape as they age and disperse, particularly if they decide to stay,” said Jeff Sikich, the team’s lead biologist. Simi Hills or cross the highway to enter larger natural areas. the park service’s mountain lion study. “It’s very encouraging to see breeding in our small mountain lion population, especially after all of the deaths we’ve recorded in the last year.”
Sikich said that since March 2022, 15 mountain lions have died in the study area; nine with GPS radio collars and six without necklaces. Most were killed in fatal car crashes, a person died of mange, and one was shot, he said.
Park rangers found a new litter of mountain lion kittens in Simi Hills. (National Park Service)
The the most famous big cat that died was P-22, who was born in the Santa Monica Mountains. He died in December at the age of 12 after he hit by a car and was euthanized due to long-term health and injury concerns.
mountain lion is killed at a rate faster than they can reproduce, According to a UC Davis study, 535 mountain lions were killed on California highways between 2015 and 2022.
The National Park Service said P-77, the mother of three kittens, is estimated to be 5 to 7 years old and that it has established its adult range in a small area between the 101 and 118 freeways. She was first arrested in November 2019 and monitored by biologists while crossing both highways and spending time in adjacent mountain ranges.
“Hopefully we can follow these kittens as they grow and separate from their mothers,” Sikich said. “It will be interesting as these kittens grow and disperse. They’re going to cross the hills, cross the highway or go to other areas.”
The kittens are tagged by biologists on their ears and may be given radios as they get older.
It is not clear who the father of the new litter is. Biologists suspect it came from the Santa Susana Mountains and left after mating with P-77.
Biologists believe this is the second litter of P-77. This marks the third litter in Simi Hills observed by biologists. A litter was born to P-62 in 2018 and P-67 in 2020 and both mothers have passed away, according to the National Park Service.
The Santa Monica Mountains can usually see 10 to 15 adult or smaller mountain lions, not counting the cubs, says Sikich.
Following the format of the mountain lion study, the kittens were assigned the letter “P” for the cougar and a number for their birth order.
“People are free to call them whatever they want,” Sikich said. “It’s hard to try and keep track of hundreds of names.”
