What to Know
- Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area shared the sweet news on its social pages on May 25, 2023
- A trio of female kittens was discovered in a boulder-strewn area on May 18; NPS biologists determined the young wild cats to be 24 days old
- The kittens' mother is P-77; the father is not known
Springtime is synonymous with adorable animals, those bouncing babies that boast cute noses, wee whiskers, and scritchable little bellies.
And while our local farms and animal parks regularly share snapshots of their notable newborns, finding photos of wild babies is a far rarer thing.
But prepare to unleash every stored-up sigh and heartfelt "awww," for the Santa Monica National Recreation Area just shared several pictures of a fabulous furry find in the Simi Hills: An all-female mountain lion litter was discovered by National Park Service biologists on May 18.
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The three kittens, now known as P-113, P-114, and P-115, were checked over while their mother P-77 was away from the den (telemetry helps the biologist determine when they can approach the den). The researchers put the kittens' age as 24 days old, meaning they were born in the latter part of April 2023.
P-77, who is around 5 or 6 years old, has been tracked crossing freeways in the past, including the 101 and 118 freeways.
The little ones' father is "presently unknown"; researchers "...are not currently following an adult male in the area between the 101 and 118 freeways, so they suspect the father of this litter likely came from the Santa Susana Mountains and then went back."
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"It will be interesting to learn how these kittens will use the landscape once they get older and disperse, particularly if they decide to stay in the Simi Hills or cross freeways to enter larger natural areas," shared Jeff Sikich, the lead field biologist of the NPS mountain lion study.
"It's encouraging to see reproduction in our small population of mountain lions, especially after all the mortalities we have documented in the last year."
For more photos of these paw-some tots, and what happened during their quick (while mom's away) check-ups, scroll down now.
