{"id":6243,"date":"2026-08-03T20:09:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6243"},"modified":"2026-08-03T20:09:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:09:36","slug":"mountain-lions-are-avoiding-you-ucsc-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6243","title":{"rendered":"Mountain lions are avoiding you, UCSC study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS \u2014 According to a study out of UC Santa Cruz, you don\u2019t need to worry about mountain lions on your favorite hiking trail. Odds are, they\u2019re staying out of your way, even when you\u2019re on their turf.<\/p>\n

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A team of researchers, led by UCSC Ph.D. candidate John Morgan, published a study on how recreation in the Santa Cruz Mountains affects the behavior of local mountain lion populations. Over six years, the team tracked 36 individual mountain lions, each fitted with a GPS collar. Every four hours or so, researchers received an update on the animals\u2019 locations, allowing them to track where the pumas were moving at certain times of day.<\/p>\n

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To understand how human activity, such as hiking or mountain biking, compared to mountain lion movement, the team turned toward a unique data source: Strava. Strava is an application with which users can track and share their runs, hikes and other exercise routines with friends. Morgan and his team of researchers were able to partner with the company and gain access to data that showed where and when humans were using trails that cut through mountain lion habitat.<\/p>\n

After comparing the two datasets, the team found that mountain lions tended to avoid areas commonly used for recreation. Pumas living near more popular trails eased their avoidance some, and those living in remote areas were more fearful. These results weren\u2019t a huge surprise, Morgan said. The Santa Cruz Puma Project, a long-term collaboration between UCSC and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, has seen such behavior in the big cats for years. What was surprising was how intentional the animals were in their avoidance.<\/p>\n

Mountain lions didn\u2019t just avoid humans, according to Morgan\u2019s study. They seemed to catch on to the hourly trends in human activity, and steer clear of trails during their peak hours of use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat level of fine scale response and ability to tune into human trends was really interesting,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cSeeing that, if there\u2019s a 9 a.m. peak in recreation, they\u2019re sort of avoiding those areas at that specific time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Morgan and his team then took their research one step further to find out what the behavior meant for risk of conflict between humans and mountain lions. Conflicts are incidents reported to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and encompass a wide range of events from sightings to attacks. When Morgan compared conflict data to the mountain lion behavioral data, he found no correlation between the big cats\u2019 exposure to people and the likelihood of conflict. In other words, pumas that are more exposed to people aren\u2019t more likely to have reported conflicts with them.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese mountain lions are learning to coexist, learning how to navigate human dominated landscapes, but not necessarily causing higher rates of conflict with people,\u201d Morgan explained.<\/p>\n

Morgan said he and his team are working with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, which helps preserve public open spaces throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains, to apply the results of the study to land management practices. Throughout the region, mountain lions are facing challenges. One of those is the genetic isolation caused by roads and other developments cutting off the animals\u2019 access to other groups of mountain lions. In fact, the Santa Cruz mountain lion population was recently listed as threatened\u00a0under the state\u2019s Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n

While open spaces are helpful to maintain connectivity between mountain lion populations, Morgan said, it may be worth considering how recreation within those open spaces may be affecting the animals. It could be that their efficacy is diminished by people hiking at all hours of the day or going off trail. Morgan and the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District are working together to find ways to balance recreational access and preserve mountain lion habitat, all while reducing the risk of conflict between humans and mountain lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is sort of pushing back on some more traditional approaches to mountain lion management,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cTolerance of humans is, perhaps, the natural response for lions, and a mechanism that they can use to persist in these human-dominated landscapes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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According to a study out of UC Santa Cruz, you don\u2019t need to worry about mountain lions on your favorite hiking trail. 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