Guest editorial: For sake of wildlife, exit lockdown with care
Tiffany Yap
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The odds are stacked against mountain lions in California. In a state with a landscape fractured by roads and riddled with rat poison, it’s hard out there for a puma.
Approximately 100 California mountain lions die every year from collisions with cars. Some are killed upon impact and others die later from their injuries or their inability to find food after being struck.
When the pandemic hit, The Ventura County Star reported that such collisions plunged. Traffic fell significantly following initial stay-at-home orders, leading to a 58% drop in mountain lion deaths, according to the UC Davis Road Ecology Center.