Cougar why endangered

Mountain lions have profound impacts on their environment, which help to support the overall health of California ecosystems. Their kills provide an important food source for a host of wild animals, including California condors and gray foxes.

Their presence benefits rare native plants, butterflies and even songbird populations. Losing mountain lions may create imbalances that result in severe repercussions for people. In the eastern United States, where cougars are now extinct, uncontrolled growth of deer populations has resulted in overgrazed vegetation, loss of biodiversity, an increase in tick-borne illness, and a higher percentage of vehicle-deer collisions than in the western states where mountain lions reside.

Under the California Endangered Species Act, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has three months to make an initial recommendation to the Fish and Game Commission, which will then vote on the petition at a public hearing later this year. The deer population in New Brunswick is high enough to support Cougars. However, logging, mining, and other activities have driven Cougars away in search of areas that are free from human disturbance.

In order for the Eastern Cougar to survive, areas of land must be protected from human activity. The Baird's Sparrow song is a series of notes followed by a trill. The Black-footed Ferret is the only ferret species that is indigenous to North America. Currently, reintroduction programs are in Discover Nature Endangered Species. Back to Endangered Species. Related Articles. Times writers that earned the Pulitzer Prize in public service for a series on Latinos in Southern California and the team that was a finalist in for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news.

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Like all cats, mountain lions are strict carnivores, and they only rarely consume vegetation. Mountain lions can breed year-round. Female mountain lions usually give birth every two years.

Litters can range in size from one to six cubs. The young may stay with their mother for as long as 26 months, but usually separate after about 15 months. In the wild, a mountain lion can live up to 10 years. In captivity, they can live up to 21 years. The historic range of the mountain lion included almost all of North and South America. The species was so wide-reaching and populous that it had multiple subspecies that varied based on location.

Throughout the s and early s, people feared the mountain lion because it posed a risk to their livestock. The species was maliciously hunted and almost eradicated from the eastern United States. Due to conservation efforts, mountain lion populations in the western United States are stable, although far lower than they were historically. While there are still several thousand mountain lions in the wild, their population has significantly decreased from their historical population due to unsustainable hunting, habitat destruction , and conflicts with livestock.

Mountain lions are an "umbrella species" for conservation because their conservation depends on the preservation of large amounts of habitat. A mountain lion usually requires about 13 times as much area as a black bear or 40 times as much area as a bobcat to thrive.