US Person posted previously about the LA mountain lions that manage to survive in one of humanity's largest metropolis. Their lives are immensely difficult due to marginal habitat fragment by rivers of steel and concrete--freeways.
{18.09.15}
One of these intrepid lions, P-64, became famous for her numerous crossings of Hwy 101 and 114. He successfully crossed them 41 times in the nine months the National Park Service tracked her through a GPS collar. The secret of his successful forays was in the use of a 640 ft long drainage tunnel with no light at the end because of bends in the pipe under 101. Using this pipe at Liberty Canyon in the Agoura Hills, often filled with water required fortitude, and a strong instinct to occupy his territory. P-64 was photographed using the culvert
[below] and became know as "the Culvert cat".
But death by vehicle impact was not P-64's fate. The devastating wildlfires claimed him; his body was found with burnt paws. Cully was in the Simi Hills when the fire broke out on November 8th and traveled several miles through the fire before stopping in a remote place. Cully had two choices: either enter a populated area full of noisy humans fighting the fires, or enter the burning landscape in hopes of surviving. He chose the latter, and lost a charmed life that had surpassed so many human imposed challenges before.
The Park Service tracks 13 cougars, eleven of which were near the perimeter of the Simi fire. Nine are moving around and appear to have survived their ordeal. Another young cougar, P-74, appears to have perished in the flames. Cully's death vividly demonstrates the need to give wildlife a chance to survive in a landscape altered almost beyond recognition. A wildlife crossing can be built over the freeway at Liberty Canyon to allow animals to forage and mate successfully--not force them to choose death trapped in a dark, water filled tunnel or death crushed beneath a speeding vehicle.
