I am writing in response to the Sept. 8 Malibu Times article by Lori Allen entitled “Coexisting with Predatory Wildlife.” I would like to add some information.
Our organization, “The Nature of Wildworks,” provides live native wildlife programming for the Mountain Lion Foundation and organizations and agencies within the Santa Monica Mountains including the National Park Service. We are in support of the NPS carnivore study and have kept current regarding the status of the two radio-collared adult mountain lions and their offspring. The male mountain lion P1 and the female lion P2 (who was recently killed by the male) have not had conflicts with humans. It is natural for wild predators to experience interspecies conflicts.
Mike Dickens (Outdoor writer) speaks out in the Sept. 8 article as an “advocate for the repeal of Prop. 117 and its statewide ban on sport hunting of mountain lions” saying that hunting would “help lessen the danger by instilling a healthy fear of humans in mountain lions.” We’re talking about the Santa Monica Mountains here, folks. I simply can’t imagine how hunting would fit in! However, something interesting to note, which was actually brought to my attention by an NPS biologist, is that the use of dart guns to “shoot” the lions with anesthesia in order to equip them with radio collars, serves as a similar form of negative reinforcement encouraging the cougars to avoid people.
Mike Dickens also states that “mountain lions have always been a part of the scenery in the Santa Monica Mountains and their numbers will likely increase.” The fact is that freeways have isolated this small family of lions and, currently, there is no corridor to provide a feasible avenue for this population to move out or new lions to move in. For this reason it is extremely unlikely, if not impossible, that their numbers would increase.
The public should be aware that this family of mountain lions demonstrates no sign of threat to humans.
Mollie Hogan, president
The Nature of Wildworks