Mountain lion seen in San Francisco

SF Mountain lion travels.kmz (1.16 KB)

The big cat was first spotted in Daly City on June 29 and then twice [in San Francisco] on June 30 in Sea Cliff and in the Western Presidio. On July 1, one was spotted at Gough and Eddy, not far from San Francisco City Hall. And two days later, it was a seen near Lake Merced. "That's crazy, you don't know what they're going to do. It's unpredictable. There have been a total of five sightings reported recently," Frank Delligatti Jr. said.

  
The above image is from a surveillance camera in the Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on June 30th. The small amount of landscape visible looks very much like the parking lot above China Beach. From the last sighting on July 3, the cat has presumably made its way into the Peninsula Open Space Preserve of San Mateo County, which is a known mountain lion habitat.  (The file shows each location, plus the very large wildland area to the south of SF, where mountain lions and other wildlife live free of human interference. The area is largely closed to the public except for hikes by appointment.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials say one possible explanation for more mountain lion sightings in the Bay Area could be due to the drought. "Primary food for mountain lion is deer so, if deer are moving into areas they're not necessarily supposed to be it would make sense lion would follow the deer," Hughan [of the CDFW] said.

Mountain lions (or, cougars) are solitary animals and prefer to stay away from humans.  A Google search, "mountain lions San Mateo County" brought up a lot of links about the increase in lion sightings this year.

 

I think as water sources in their ever-shrinking habitat dry up in out current severe drought, both predators and their prey seek out sources in the city margins. Mountain lions that survive freeway crossings have been found in Griffith Park, the largest park in Los Angeles, and more recently in the Verdugo Mountains. Both are islands of undeveloped mountainous land surrounded by Los Angeles and neighboring cities.

Griffith Park Puma

Verdugo Mountains Puma

Attachments:

Mountain Lion Habitats - Los Angeles.kmz (945 B)

Yes, Hill, that's having a huge impact.  I have seen a big increase in deer walking around the town where I live and some seem to have taken up permanent residence around the big irrigation canal.  Why wouldn't they, all that water and fresh grass!  Mountain lions are probably already sneaking around town at night.  It's a very small city with sparse nighttime traffic and no freeways, so an easy saunter from their hilly habitat into the suburbs.  

Thanks for the great info. (Oops - your Griffith Park link goes to this thread.)

Jul 13, 2015 23:55:47 GMT diane9247 said:

Yes, Hill, that's having a huge impact.  I have seen a big increase in deer walking around the town where I live and some seem to have taken up permanent residence around the big irrigation canal.  Why wouldn't they, all that water and fresh grass!  Mountain lions are probably already sneaking around town at night.  It's a very small city with sparse nighttime traffic and no freeways, so an easy saunter from their hilly habitat into the suburbs.  

Thanks for the great info. (Oops - your Griffith Park link goes to this thread.)

Links are fixed now.