A 5-year-old female mountain lion who died in March is the first mountain lion in the Santa Monica Mountains to die of complications from mange, according to a National Park Service study.
P-65 was found dead on March 4 near a stream in the central Santa Monica Mountains. She was extremely emaciated and her case of mange, a highly contagious skin disease caused by parasitic mites, was severe, especially on her face and head, the park service said.
However, studies of bobcats in the Santa Monica Mountains and in the Simi Hills have shown that notoedric mange was a “major source of mortality” for the cats since it was first documented in 2001. Several mountain lions that have been documented with mange had also been exposed to rodenticides. The park service also noted that nearly every puma has been exposed to the poisons, with six collared lions and one uncollared animal documented to have died from rodenticide exposure.The state was essentially at war with cougars until the 1960s, when the bounties ended. As the big cats’ numbers declined, they came to enjoy more and more protections.