P-34 found dead near Point Mugu State Park.
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Her remains – as well as those of a previously unknown sibling – were discovered in a remote forest area.
Park experts Friday declared the demises of 3 little ton de lys obtainable from the Santa Monica Mountains. The National Park Service says a young female dubbed P-34 was found on a hiking trail on September 30.
Preliminary results from a necropsy show she likely died because of exposure to rodenticide, also known as rat poisons.
Widespread absorption of mouse poisonous ingredients continues to be doc through Park Service in the Santa Monica Mountains.
P-34 was being tracked by researchers since she was three weeks old and stole the spotlight in December of a year ago when she was spotted hanging out at a mobile home park after wandering through a residential backyard. P-34’s sibling, P-32, was struck and killed by a vehicle on the I-5 Freeway in August after venturing out of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Survival rates for adults seem to be reasonably good, but the inability to get out of or into the range has led to inbreeding, low genetic diversity and lions killing other lions.
The National Park Service has documented that wildlife around the Santa Monica Mountains has been exposed to rat poison in the area. “Forensic DNA results from UCLA will potentially provide more information on the species of animal involved in the attack and may even identify the specific individual, if it was one of the study’s collared mountain lions”, the park service says. The two kittens were only three months old. P-43 had been tagged by researchers when it was just 3-weeks-old, just like P-34, and P-32.
Both litters born to P-43’s mother, P-23, have now been killed by other animals. Wounds found on the mountain lion’s face indicated a fight ensued right before her death. The objective of the study is to determine how they survive in an increasingly urbanized environment.
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Scientists are now tracking 10 animals in the region.
