The vital role of mother mountain lions
Young lions rely on their mothers to teach them to how to stalk, chase, and take down prey. They may spend up to two years with their mother learning how to hunt correctly.
Killing a mother mountain lion has catastrophic effects.
Cougar kittens that lose their mother face a grim fate. Kittens younger than six months old have almost no chance of survival, often succumbing to starvation or predation. If an orphaned kitten older than six months manages to survive, it may become desperate and target pets or livestock because it lacks the essential hunting skills and prey recognition that would have been taught by its mother.
The importance of nurture in nature.
Human urban development has encroached upon mountain lion habitat over the last century. There has also been an acceleration of habitat loss in recent years due to the frequency of wildfires. As a result, cats are acclimating to urban environments and living in closer proximity to humans than ever before. To coexist peacefully, young mountain lions need to be adequately nurtured and taught to hunt by their mothers. A mountain lion that has been sufficiently nurtured and can hunt effectively is unlikely to exhibit abnormal behavior like attacking humans.
Hunting causes territory conflicts.
Hunting causes instability in mountain lion's established territories. This occurs when a mature lion that was able to peacefully coexist with humans and livestock is killed and a juvenile lion moves in. There can also be conflicts between a new lion in a territory and a mother lion. In one documented occurrence, a mother lion charged a juvenile male lion who came into a new territory that was previously held by a hunted lion. The mother lion was killed. Her two kittens starved to death. In that case, four lions died due to one hunter's bullet.
