GPS collars and trail cameras are helping to reveal the stories of female mountain lions and their kittens

Readers of our monthly online newsletter will recall the photo of a fluffy, dewy-eyed mountain lion kitten discovered mewing vociferously in a west Sonoma County den in August by Dr. Quinton Martins, who tracks and collars North Bay mountain lions for the Living with Lions study. The weeks-old kitten of collared mountain lion P39 was thought to be a singleton, and the eleventh kitten Martins has monitored while tracking the movements of the 5-year-old cat since 2022.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. In early October, a local resident’s trail camera picked up P39 moving through the area with not just one but at least three kittens!

Mountain lions have a 50/50 chance of surviving past the age of two — in the North Bay, the numbers are even lower

Spotting the trio of kittens is especially hopeful news because none of P39’s prior offspring have survived to dispersal age, roughly 18 months old. Of the previous litters, four of the deaths were attributed to predators and illness. The new litter gives us a chance to discover additional factors that may be contributing to survival rates.

GPS-collared female lions provide otherwise unattainable insights for the study

How could it be that P39 now has three kittens, when they weren’t seen in the den in August? Martins wondered that as well. He went back to the August data and concluded that when he visited the den, P39 was in the process of moving the other kittens to a new site. The single kitten vocalizing in the den was an additional clue as the kitten was likely expecting mama back at any moment.

“Den visits are incredibly important to understand what the survival rates and threats to mountain lions in our region are,” said Martins. “In our study, we do not handle the kittens, and we have sufficient evidence to demonstrate that females do not respond in a negative way by moving the kittens after a visit.” In this case, it just so happened that the den was visited while kittens were being moved.

Martins times the visits during a key four-week denning period when mom is away from the site. Thereafter, we try to keep tabs on their well-being via trail cameras; for example, when mom makes a kill and brings the kittens to feed.

Region’s woodlands shelter and nourish the young

Across the county, another mountain lion, P33, is caring for her single kitten near Taylor Mountain Regional Park on the outskirts of Santa Rosa. Noticing the tell-tale signs of prey being cached, Martins placed cameras at the site and was able to capture footage of the pair feeding on a black-tailed deer. This kitten is also in a high-stakes game of survival as its father, P13, recently died, putting it at risk of infanticide by a new male lion intent on dominating the territory.

Watching these young lives unfold surely tugs at the heartstrings, but their stories and data also contribute to greater understanding of the health of the local lion population.

Support mountain lion research

The North Bay is like nowhere else in the world. Your generous support of Living with Lions will have significant impact in protecting these magnificent cats and stewarding the beauty and resilience of our area. Become a member today >