The cause of death of these Southern
California mountain lions is humans. Humans have killed more than
half of the mountain lions that were studied by vehicle collisions, illegal
shootings, depredation permits, public-safety removals or human caused
wildfires. There is also another problem that is causing these animals to die.
I-15, which is an interstate that runs through Riverside
County , San
Diego County , and San Bernardino County
The possible solution for this not to
happen is to use other means of transportation instead of cars so these amazing
animals won’t get hit or run over. Also, the solution to the survival rate
could be to use eco-friendly materials instead of using gas, electricity, and
coal.
The barriers to these solutions are that
these cities are growing at such a fast pace that the people would probably not
be open minded to these solutions and would want to keep their uses(
transportation, electricity, etc) the same( faster means of doing things).
The possibility of why the mountain
lions are not surviving in the Santa
Ana
Sources: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150715170537.htm
Although promoting the idea of choosing a different mean of transportation to travel is a good idea and would save the lives of many lions, I believe an effective and more likely solution would be to increase caution of the local mountain lions passing through. Adding caution signs along the busy interstate would not only make traveling citizens aware of crossing mountain lions but could trigger potential groups to form in order to increase awareness of these animals. Using cars as a way of transportation is inevitable, so finding a different solution such as taking cautionary measures and increasing local knowledge will heighten the chances of these mountain lions living a longer and better life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ciara. While taking away cars would be great in an ideal situation, the reality is that our society strongly relies on them. Ciara’s idea to increase public awareness is a good start, but the fact is that much of the human population will ignore such signs. Since a lot of the collisions occur during night, the visibility is significantly decreased, so signs would not have that much of an impact.
ReplyDeleteI believe that putting aside designated land to support the mountain lion population and minimize the breakup of the populations would limit many impacts. Fences around these areas, while minimizing animal migration, would put an end to most vehicle collisions. In addition, the lack of genetic diversity is one of the most pressing issues tackled in this article. I believe the only way to support a strong mountain lion population would be through human intervention. Since many of the mountain lions cannot cross the interstate, having humans who either take the sperm of genetically diverse males or even relocating certain areas could reduce the adverse repercussions the road has had on mountain lions. It is our human actions that have killed many mountain lions, and it must be our job to help them in any way we can.