Mountain lions face greater risk of becoming roadkill in wildfire’s aftermath, study says
Mountain lions face greater risk of becoming roadkill in wildfire’s aftermath, study says
MOUNTAIN LIONS FACE A greater risk of becoming roadkill in post-wildfire conditions, according to a study released Friday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and conducted by Drs. Chris Fisher and Christopher Gierach.
“Roadkill is not unusual, it’s not a surprise, but in this study we found that mountain lions are at greater risk of becoming roadkill as their range shrinks in some western states,” Gierach said in a news release.
Researchers tested whether roadkill risk was greater for mountain lions or their densities, and found it was the density of mountain lion dens that caused a stronger link between number of lions and number of roadkilled coyotes.
Fisher added that wildlife officials were “concerned” that roadkill of mountain lions would occur and called for additional research to determine the causes of the animals’ deaths.
Fisher and Gierach concluded that mountain lions should continue their education about the importance of preventing roadkill or they should be given more leeway for dispersing and reducing conflicts in the wild.