It’s the first recorded urban sighting of one of these big cats in Santa Cruz this year, thus far.
Mountain lions are dwindling in many parts of the continental United States, including here in California. A recent report published by the Los Angeles Times puts the entire state’s population of these large cats somewhere between 3,200 and 4,500 animals. For context, the same survey conducted in the 1980s put California’s mountain lion population between 4,000 and 6,000 — at worst, a number that’s nearly half of what today’s population of mountain lions found in California.
@LookoutSCruz @scsentinel
a mountain lion went by our house last night in Santa Cruz. pic.twitter.com/hWemMl6yAA— hiker (@holyman000) January 20, 2024
The reason for this sharp dive? Easy; it’s human-facilitated climate change, deforestation, massive urbanization, and illegal hunting, as well as vehicle collisions that, more often than not, prove fatal for these human-sized felines.
In Santa Cruz, wildlife biologists estimate there may be as few as 50 individual specimens that call the sixteen-square-mile oceanside city. (Most of these animals are believed to inhabit the Santa Cruz Mountain range.) But, occasionally, some of these big cats do wander into more suburban settings, be it looking for food, en route to find a mate or new territory, or because they’re physically unwell and looking for easy shelter.
Whatever the reason, a mountain lion was recently spotted by a security camera in Santa Cruz off King and Mission streets.
“[A] mountain lion went by our house last night in Santa Cruz,” X user [at]holyman000 posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. In his post, the captured footage briefly shows what looks like either a young adult or a fully matured mountain lion briskly passing by his home. Again, the footage is brief; at only fifteen seconds and with one viewing angle, it appears the mountain lion was merely passing through.
The recording represents what is likely the first of a mountain lion caught in the small city.
This past October, a wildlife tunnel installed under Highway 17 through the Santa Cruz Mountains, saw a rare user — mountain lion. This “puma” was the first of its kind using the subterranean passageway, which was the culmination of 15 years of research from the Santa Cruz Puma Project. The joint project by UC Santa Cruz, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, and the California Department of Transportation had previously seen everything from squirrels and bobcats to coyotes and foxes traverse through it, though that mountain lion was the first of its species recorded.
It’s unclear if this recently filmed mountain lion has used it yet, but here’s hoping his or her travels are safe and without negative human interference.
