Article about urban wildlife - interesting about elevated deer predation. There is a thriving (so far) population of mule deer in Griffith Park, largely isolated from the rest of the Santa Monicas, except through a narrow bottleneck/corridor at Cahuenga Pass.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Did it happen again??
A few days ago, local resident Chris Stills "tweeted" out a photo of a mountain lion walking down a residential street in the Beverly Park area of Beverly Hills (located south of Mulholland and west of Coldwater Canyon). This appears to be the *second* confirmed sighting in recent years of a lion moving east across the 405 Freeway (assuming it hasn't been hiding in Beverly Hills for years, undetected). The first, of course, was P-22, which we captured on a wildlife camera in February 2012. A quick check with National Park Service biologists indicated this isn't a "collared" animal (affixed with a radio collar and tracked), though there's a chance it is a grown kitten with a tracking implant. Stay tuned!
Thanks to Beth Pratt, National Wildlife Federation, for alerting us to this, er, tweet!
Thanks to Beth Pratt, National Wildlife Federation, for alerting us to this, er, tweet!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Welcome!
Welcome to the Griffith Park Connectivity Study (GPCS) website!
The GPCS was launched in 2011 with three "co-PI's", Daniel S. Cooper, M.Sc. (Cooper Ecological), Erin Boydston, Ph.D. (USGS), and Miguel Ordeñana, M.Sc. (Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History).
Facts about the Griffith Park Wildlife Connectivity Study:
• This project uses remotely-triggered cameras to study the movement of large and medium-sized mammals to and from Griffith Park and surrounding open space. This area forms the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains eco-region, is surrounded by highways and other development. Movement of wide-ranging species through potential corridors to adjacent habitat across the highways has not previously been studied.
• It was initiated with 12 remote cameras in Cahuenga Pass in late July 2011, and has now expanded to include all of Griffith Park and the adjacent Los Angeles River to the north and east.
• It continues to be funded locally, including by Friends of Griffith Park and the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA), with additional resources from USGS.
• We work in cooperation with several landowners in the area, including the Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks, Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power, and California Dept. of Transportation (CalTrans).
• We now have several dozen cameras deployed that are motion-activated to record digital images in the immediate field of view. Images are stored on memory cards that researchers periodically collect and download. Cameras have logged thousands of days of photographs since mid-2011.
Major findings:
• In February 2012, images of a mountain lion (Puma concolor) were recorded on the east side of Cahuenga Pass, the first known images documenting mountain lion activity east of the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains eco-region.
• Other species of medium and large-mammals recorded to date include bobcat (Lynx rufus), coyote (Canis latrans), gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus).
• We have documented numerous crossings of large and mid-mammals in and out of the park, using both bridges and tunnels/culverts to navigate road crossings. These results are being prepared for publication.
The GPCS was launched in 2011 with three "co-PI's", Daniel S. Cooper, M.Sc. (Cooper Ecological), Erin Boydston, Ph.D. (USGS), and Miguel Ordeñana, M.Sc. (Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History).
Facts about the Griffith Park Wildlife Connectivity Study:
• This project uses remotely-triggered cameras to study the movement of large and medium-sized mammals to and from Griffith Park and surrounding open space. This area forms the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains eco-region, is surrounded by highways and other development. Movement of wide-ranging species through potential corridors to adjacent habitat across the highways has not previously been studied.
• It was initiated with 12 remote cameras in Cahuenga Pass in late July 2011, and has now expanded to include all of Griffith Park and the adjacent Los Angeles River to the north and east.
• It continues to be funded locally, including by Friends of Griffith Park and the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA), with additional resources from USGS.
• We work in cooperation with several landowners in the area, including the Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks, Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power, and California Dept. of Transportation (CalTrans).
• We now have several dozen cameras deployed that are motion-activated to record digital images in the immediate field of view. Images are stored on memory cards that researchers periodically collect and download. Cameras have logged thousands of days of photographs since mid-2011.
Major findings:
• In February 2012, images of a mountain lion (Puma concolor) were recorded on the east side of Cahuenga Pass, the first known images documenting mountain lion activity east of the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains eco-region.
• Other species of medium and large-mammals recorded to date include bobcat (Lynx rufus), coyote (Canis latrans), gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus).
• We have documented numerous crossings of large and mid-mammals in and out of the park, using both bridges and tunnels/culverts to navigate road crossings. These results are being prepared for publication.
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