The vital role of mother mountain lions
Young lions rely on their mothers to teach them to identify prey. They may spend up to two years with their mother learning how to hunt correctly.
Killing a mother mountain lion has catastrophic effects.
What happens if a mother mountain lion does not return to her kittens? The kittens starve to death or are killed by predators; the chance of a kitten under six months of age surviving without its mother is virtually non-existent. When an orphaned kitten older than six months does manage to survive, it may become desperate and kill pets and livestock because it has not been taught to identify prey and hunt by its mother.
The importance of nurture in nature.
Human urban development has encroached upon mountain lion habitat over the last century. There has been an acceleration of habitat loss in recent years due to the frequency of wildfires. As a result, the 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.
