This weekend, visitors from around the world will visit National Parks in the United States. August 25 marks the 103rd anniversary of the legislation that established the National Park Service. All national parks will offer free admission to the public for the day. The parks and programs of the National Park Service connect Americans and visitors from around the world with the nation’s notable landscapes, history, and outdoor opportunities...

The FWC is investigating a disorder detected in some Florida panthers and bobcats. All the affected animals have exhibited some degree of walking abnormally or difficulty coordinating their back legs. As of August 2019, the FWC has confirmed neurological damage in one panther and one bobcat. Additionally, trail camera footage has captured eight panthers (mostly kittens) and one adult bobcat displaying varying degrees of this condition...

The Mountain Lion Foundation and the Center for Biological Diversity formally petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission today to protect mountain lions under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The petition seeks protections for gravely imperiled cougar populations in Southern California and on the Central Coast, including the Eastern Peninsular Range, Santa Ana Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, and north along the coast to the Santa Cruz Mountains...

Mountain lion P-45 is believed to be dead. The 45th lion radio collared as part of the Santa Monica Mountain National Park study, P-45's genetic contribution to the fragile population there is particularly significant. Back in February of 2018, the lion's collar stopped transmitting GPS points. Biologists at the National Park Service (NPS) made efforts in the field to locate him using a VHF signal, but were unsuccessful, and they've not seen evidence of P-45 on the hundreds of trail cameras deployed throughout the mountains...

Since 2002, mountain lions have been studied extensively in the Santa Monica Mountains. Information on diet, habitat selection, home ranges, and mortality has been analyzed using data collected from GPS collars. This long-term research offers insights on how pumas eat, live, and reproduce in isolated environments. The Woolsey Fire burned a total of 96,949 acres in November 2018. Of these, 88% were federal lands and 47% of the Santa Monica National Recreation Area was burned, and 2 mortalities of collared lions were reported (P-74 and P-64)...

Mountain Lion Foundation would like to thank the Santa Barbara Police Department, Santa Barbara Animal Control, and California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) for their response to a young wayward lion in Santa Barbara yesterday evening. Santa Barbara Police Department and local animal control responded to the scene first, after which CDFW was called. The mountain lion was not in the city center, but was found in downtown Santa Barbara...

It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Judge William Newsom, a founding board member of the Mountain Lion Foundation. In 1971, it was estimated that only 600 mountain lions survived in the wild, and Governor Ronald Reagan enacted a moratorium on hunting the mountain lion for sport. That moratorium was subsequently extended twice and then made permanent when California voters approved Proposition 117 in 1990...

Cases of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) are on the rise in the United States and Colorado is no exception. CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that is found in ungulate species like mule and white-tailed deer, moose, elk, and many more. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), the disease "has been found in more than half of the deer herds and about one third of elk herds." In response to the high infection rate in several of the State's herds, CPW drafted a plan that directs "future management of deer, elk and moose herds with high levels of CWD infection...

In Wisconsin, mountain lions, also known as cougars, have been extirpated from the state since the early 1900's. The last native mountain lion was believed to have been killed in 1908. As populations in the western United States recovered, however, dispersing individuals occasionally began to journey eastwards in search of a territory or mate. From time to time, dispersers are confirmed outside of their current established range in Midwestern and eastern states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Connecticut...

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Commission recently met to discuss the 2018-2019 proposed big game regulation changes. The meeting, which took place on September 13-14 in Bandon, unanimously adopted big game regulations for the upcoming season pertaining to the use of decoys to bait big game and target zones, which essentially allow for the unlimited killing of lions in particular areas...