Puma tracking

The cry of a puma at dusk is not something you soon forget. Even a paw print in the mud is enough to conjure up images of this elusive animal.

Pumas, also known as mountain lions, are part of a delicate ecosystem that is changing. The areas east of San Diego along the Peninsular Range that were once remote, now host a record number of residents and visitors.

To better understand the impact of human presence on the large mammals living in the backcountry, the Southern California Puma Project was initiated. It is directed by Dr. Walter Boyce, co-director of the UC-Davis Wildlife Health Center, in collaboration with California State Parks and California Department of Fish and Game.

The puma study is centered over Cuyamaca Rancho State Park (CRSP) and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP), although it extends into nearby public and private lands. Biologists Ken Logan (field team director), Linda Sweanor and Jim Bauer, along with local volunteers, are actively engaged in tagging and tracking pumas to study their behavior.

Linda Sweanor tells us about this study (March 2003).

LMVA: What does your group want to learn from the puma study?
Linda: We want to better understand the relationships of pumas to deer, bighorn sheep and people in the region (principally the Cuyamaca Rancho and Anza-Borrego Desert State Parks area) to assist long-term conservation of the large mammals within these ecosystems, and to minimize conflicts with humans.

LMVA: How do you capture and tag the pumas?
Linda: We capture pumas using three methods: leg-hold snares, cage traps, and hounds that trail and tree pumas. We take great pains to ensure the safety and well being of the pumas we are trying to capture. To date we have captured 14 pumas: a female and her two male cubs in ABDSP; four males, four females, three cubs in CRSP. We have placed radio-collars or Global Positioning System collars on all but two small cubs (these were ear-tagged). Four of our collared pumas have died. M2 was killed by a vehicle on Interstate 8, M3 and his uncollared mother were killed for depredation in Descanso, M9 (pictured above) was killed for potentially threatening domestic animals, and F7 died of apparent starvation.

LMVA: How long will your group track the pumas?
Linda: Our study began in January of 2001 and is likely to be funded through June of 2004, with a possibility of extending it beyond that time.

LMVA: What have you learned so far about the range and behavior of local pumas?
Linda: Pumas have large ranges and are dependent on lands provided by the state parks as well as other public and private lands. CRSP is only 50 square miles in size. Male pumas we have studied have home ranges that average 200 square miles. Females have a range of 50 to 100 square miles. However, one collared adult female puma inhabited the desert area where prey was scarce, and had a range exceeding 240 square miles. The main source of puma mortality is human-caused (road kills, depredation control, public safety). Because pumas require such large areas, they frequently pass through private lands and come into contact with peoples' hobby animals and pets. If people don't practice good husbandry, pumas will sometimes take advantage of an easy meal (they are opportunistic predators) and kill domestic animals. Pumas that kill domestic animals can be legally killed, and that's often what happens. Unprotected domestic animals can also draw a puma into an area, potentially causing public safety issues as well. Given the numbers of people recreating and moving into the backcountry, it will be difficult for a viable puma population to endure. Practicing good animal husbandry and using common sense when living in puma country will help.

As more people build homes in the backcountry and use the trails for recreation, encounters between humans and pumas are inevitable. Considering that Cuyamaca Rancho State Park alone had over 500,000 visitors last year, attacks are rare. In the last 100 years, only about 15 puma attacks on humans have been recorded in the entire state of California. Linda offered several simple safety tips to those that live in the backcountry, and to those who have pets or raise animals such as chickens, goats, or sheep.

First, keep your animals in completely enclosed pens at night.
Second, feed your pets indoors to reduce attracting wild animals that are puma prey.
Third, seal off your deck to prevent animals from setting up shop in there. These animals attract bigger predators, such as pumas, and consequently increase the risk of dangerous encounters between people and pumas.
Fourth, closely supervise children whenever they are playing outdoors. Make sure children are home before dusk and are not outside before dawn (those are times when pumas are most active).
Fifth, landscape or remove vegetation to eliminate hiding cover for pumas, especially around areas where children play. Make it difficult for a puma to approach unseen.
Finally, encourage your neighbors to take these precautions so that your neighborhood is a relatively safe zone.

When hiking in puma country: do not hike alone; do not allow children to run far in front or behind adults - their high-pitched voices and rapid movements may attract pumas. Never approach a puma. They will usually avoid a confrontation, but are unpredictable- so give them a way out.

In the unlikely event that you encounter a puma in the backcountry:
First: Stay calm. Don’t run or turn your back. Pick up small children.
Second: Make yourself appear as large as possible by opening your coat or raising your arms.
Third: Back away from the puma slowly.
Fourth: Fight back with sticks/rocks/shouts if the puma acts aggressively.

Check with the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association for upcoming lectures.

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