Mountain Lions Transported to Desert Die of Starvation

Two mountain lions died from starvation while trying to make their way back home after they were moved from the mountains of California to the Mojave Desert.

The relocation took place in 2021, but a report by California's Department of Fish and Wildlife, cited by The Los Angeles Times, recently came to light, 

Rangers captured the two mountain lions, tagged as L147 and L176, in their native home of eastern Sierra Nevada and moved them 210 miles east to an isolated stretch of ridges, the Times reported.

L147 was found dead "in an emaciated condition," suggesting it had died from starvation, the report said. L176 was later found also in an emaciated condition and "had to be euthanized."

"In hindsight, it wasn't a good place to release those lions," Tom Stephenson, a senior environmental scientist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the Times. "And we're not moving them to that environment anymore."

The department has decided to stop relocating male lions because they are instinctively programmed to return to their home range to protect their mated females from other males. 

The death of the two mountain lions was disclosed in a report discussing the state's Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, which aims to aid federally endangered bighorns in restoring their numbers.

In 1995, there were about100 bighorns left in their natural habitat, according to the Times. However, significant progress has been achieved in their conservation, thanks to tens of millions of dollars invested in the efforts.

The lions were removed because they were preying on local bighorns. The relocation site was selected because authorities were evaluating whether a wildlife crossing could be constructed near the site of a future high-speed rail project, which will connect Southern California and Las Vegas, according to the Times. 

Stephenson dismissed the original report, stating that a new 2022 annual report on the bighorn recovery program included a section intended to "clarify" the matter.

According to the new report, the mountain lions were relocated "as an alternative to lethal removal" by shooting or chemically induced euthanasia.

"Given their homing instinct, the hope was that the Mojave Desert would function as a barrier to prevent their return to the Sierra," the report said, according to the Times.

"The region of the eastern Mojave where they were moved has adequate prey to the southeast," the new report continued. "Unfortunately, their homing instinct drove them to return to the northwest," where prey was harder to find.

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