Genetic research can reveal the killing patterns of mountain lions and coyotes, protecting domestic animals.
Ron Aldana kneels with his dogs Cacahuate, a 1-year-old Australian heeler terrier mix, and Chili, a 7-year-old Xoloitzcuintle , and holds Pepper, a 4-year-old Chinese Crested dog, at his home in Los Gatos, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. At dawn, silent and unseen, a mountain lion climbed over a tall iron gate and crept down the driveway of Ron Aldana’s Los Gatos ranch, pouncing on his pet goat Chupita and killing her instantly.
For instance, if the same patterns of DNA show up in samples from different incidents, it suggests that a single predator is a repeat offender, with an acquired taste for pets and livestock. “It will help find the best ways to prevent mountain lions and coyotes from interacting with livestock and pets, so we can coexist,” said Leigh Ann Gessner of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, which manages 70,000 acres of the Santa Cruz Mountains, connecting the San Francisco Peninsula to the San Mateo County coast and the South Bay.
Clara Jessup, coordinator of the Bay Area Carnivore-Livestock Interactions Project, is testing a low current electric line of fencing with red flagging, called “turbo fladry,” to learn if it deters mountain lions from hunting livestock and pets. In 1990, the passage of Proposition 117 — commonly known as the “mountain lion initiative” — placed a permanent ban on the sport hunting of lions in California. An estimated 3,200 to 4,500 mountain lions now roam the state. The Santa Cruz Mountains comprise the largest contiguous mountain lion habitat in the greater Bay Area, with a population estimate of 50 individuals, according to UC Santa Cruz professor Chris Willmers of theCoyotes are even more ubiquitous.
At daybreak on June 11, Aldana released Chupita from her nighttime stall in a barn. Then he went inside to cook breakfast. He heard his dogs bark but dismissed it.
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