Conservationists are mourning the loss of a collared mountain lion that was recently struck and killed by a vehicle in Southern California.
“We are deeply saddened to share that mountain lion F390, one of the collared lions in our study, was recently killed by a vehicle strike on Highway 74 (Ortega),” calicarnivores said in an Instagram post on Sept. 5.
The 3-year-old cougar was raising her first litter, a male and a female, when she was killed crossing the highway.
“She had successfully crossed this busy highway many times before, but this time, traffic proved fatal,” the post stated.
F390’s cubs, said to be about 14 months old, were only a few months away from leaving her care and becoming independent, the experts said. The team at calicarnivores (California Carnivores) said it plans to continue tracking F390’s offspring and share updates on its social media accounts.
“Her loss is a stark reminder of the risks carnivores face as their habitats overlap with our roads and communities,” the post reads.
The California Carnivores Program was initially formed at U.C. Davis in 2001 as the California Mountain Lion Project.
“The project has now been expanded as the California Carnivores Program to include other carnivore species in our research portfolio. The outcome of our efforts will continue to enhance the sound scientific information needed for carnivore conservation,” its website states.
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