Type: report

Article abstract: This mountain lion (Puma concolor; puma, cougar) study is headed by Dr. Winston Vickers of the Wildlife Health Center at UC Davis (WHC). David Garcelon of the Institute for Wildlife Studies (IWS) is the PI for the northeastern California part of the study, and Dr. Jessica Sanchez of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance was a key contributor to several study elements in Southern California. From midApril till December 1, 2022, Dr. Justin Dellinger co-Directed activities in all of the study areas with Dr. Vickers. Dr. Fernando Najera is expected to join the study as co-Director in March 2023. Dr. Vickers prepared this report with contributions from the other project collaborators. Overall activities and research into mountain lions by the UC Davis WHC have been ongoing since the first capture of a mountain lion in the study in March of 2001. Over the course of this long term study, cougars were captured, sampled, and GPS collared in Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Modoc, Lassen Counties, and Kern Counties, and future capture activities are expected in the Gabilan Range and Pacheco Pass either in or in close proximity to Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties (Figure 2).