Nature and You Lecture Series: Mountain Lions in California – ONLINE

Please join Dr. Winston Vickers from the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center for an online lecture about mountain lions (aka. pumas or cougars) in California.

In the last 20+ years several research projects have vastly increased our understanding of mountain lions in California, and the news has not been good.  The team at the Wildlife Health Center at UC Davis has been studying this species since 2001 and has contributed significantly to the current state of knowledge.  The findings have shown that connections between populations across the state have been mostly severed, to the point of ten separate subpopulations being identifiable genetically.  Despite mountain lions not being hunted for sport in California, several of these subpopulations are nevertheless at risk of significant decline or extirpation due to low annual survival rates, inbreeding, and worsening habitat loss and fragmentation.  These issues are severe enough that six subpopulations have been petitioned for listing under the California Endangered Species Act.  In this talk Dr. Vickers will detail the latest scientific findings from across that state that are guiding actions that may increase the odds of long term persistence of puma populations, and what individuals can do to assist in their conservation.  He will also discuss findings specifically from this general region of the state, and ongoing and future research efforts.

This lecture will be ONLINE in a Zoom meeting.  You must register on this page (be sure to include your email address) and download Zoom. (There is no need to create an account.) After registering, participants will be sent an email with the meeting ID and password.  After the lecture, you will be able to ask questions via Zoom’s chat feature.

Questions? Contact Bill Grabert at bgrabert@tuleyome.org

This lecture is part of the monthly “Nature and You” lecture series sponsored by Tuleyome.  Tuleyome is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization based in Woodland, California. The word “Tuleyome” (pronounced too-lee-OME-ee) is a Lake Miwok Indian word that means “deep home place”. And that term “deep home place” exemplifies our deep connection to our environment, our communities and our regional public lands.

Note: All participants agree to abide by the terms and conditions of Tuleyome’s waiver of liability which can be seen and downloaded HERE. All participants also understand that photographs will be taken at the event. If you do not wish to be photographed, you must tell the photographer and avoid the cameras’ line of sight.