P-54, a three-year old mountain lion living in the Santa Monica Mountains, recently gave birth to a litter of kittens – males P-82 and P-83, and female P-84. Researchers believe this is her first litter.
It’s always good news to discover a new litter of kittens, but biologists are hopeful for another reason: the presumed father, male mountain lion P-63, may have just brought something that is much needed into the Santa Monica Mountains – genetic diversity.
More than four months ago, P-63, the only adult male radio-collared mountain lion living in the Santa Monica Mountains, was repeatedly “located” with P-54 over two days, which is generally an indication of a mating interaction. Approximately 90 days later, researchers noticed a series of localized GPS locations indicating that either P-54 was feeding at a kill site or that she had given birth.
This may also be the first time that P-63 has fathered kittens. Original public domain image from Flickr
Get Premium
Professional design resources and creative tools
- Unlimited downloads
- Ad-free experience
- Unlock millions of creative assets and our entire Creative Studio of editable templates, mockups and design tools