Puma Profiles: P-59

Female
Initial capture date: August 2017

These two kittens are the first litter for P-53, a young female mountain lion that the National Park Service has been tracking since July 2016. At 21 months of age, P-53 is the youngest mother during the study, but still within the normal range.

Researchers found P-59, a female, and P-60, a male, in the central portion of the range and ear-tagged the kittens at approximately 4 weeks of age. The father is suspected, but still not confirmed, to be P-12, which is the kittens’ father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Inbreeding is a serious issue in the Santa Monica Mountains that threatens the long-term survival of mountain lions.

This is the 13th litter of kittens marked by National Park Service biologists at a den site. Two additional litters of kittens were discovered when the kittens were already at least 6 months old.

P-57 and P-58 | Back to Puma Profiles Homepage | P-60