News Animals

Mountain lions pushed out by wildfires take more risks

California’s Woolsey Fire in 2018 led to local mountain lions crossing roads more often

A collared mountain lion and her three cubs in a wooded area at night

A mountain lion wearing a tracking collar leads her cubs through the brush. Collars on cats like these allow scientists to track where the animals go when wildfires ravage their territories.

National Park Service

By Bethany Brookshire

Mountain lions have no interest in people, or the built-up areas we enjoy. But after a 2018 wildfire in California, local lions took more risks, crossing roads more often and moving around more in the daytime, scientists report October 20 in Current Biology.