Mountain lion kittens that died after being found in Thousand Oaks had rodenticide poisoning

Two mountain lion kittens that died after being discovered exterior a Thousand Oaks workplace complicated had residues of three several types of rodent poison of their livers, the Nationwide Park Service mentioned Wednesday.

The orphaned kittens, P-100 and P-102, have been found final November and died a number of days later.

A necropsy later discovered that that they had rodenticide compounds of their programs, a heavy flea infestation, irritation of their mind and feline parvovirus, a extremely contagious virus that impacts kittens.

They’re the youngest mountain lions within the examine of pumas within the Santa Monica Mountains to be discovered with anticoagulant rodenticides.

Biologists from Santa Monica Mountains Nationwide Recreation Space — who’ve been finding out the area’s mountain lion inhabitants for the previous twenty years — mentioned the report revealed a number of firsts for the examine, officers mentioned.

“That is the primary time a mountain lion within the park’s 20-year examine has been affected by parvo, and these two kittens are the youngest mountain lions within the examine to have anticoagulant rodenticides of their system,” mentioned biologist Jeff Sikich.

Thus far, 31 of 32 mountain lions have examined optimistic for publicity to a number of rodenticides, and 7 have died straight from poisoning, in accordance with Sikich.

Mountain lions may be uncovered to the poison by way of the meals chain, normally by consuming one other animal that ingested the bait, or an animal that ate the animal that consumed the rat poison.

Anticoagulant poisoning is the second-leading reason behind loss of life for native mountain lions within the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding space, not less than so far as human mortality causes go, in accordance with the Park Service.

Whereas not all mountain lions die from the publicity, it will possibly adversely affect their well being in some ways.

The 2 kittens examined optimistic for a number of anticoagulant rodenticides, brodifacoum, bromadiolone and diphacinone.

The kittens have been a part of a litter of 4 that have been fitted with monitoring collars in late November, when biologists added them to the analysis examine. They have been about six weeks outdated on the time — too younger to outlive on their very own — and their mom wasn’t with them.

When biologists observed that the mom didn’t return, biologists took the kittens to a neighborhood veterinarian, the place P-100 and P-102 later died.

Their siblings, P-101 and P-103, survived, and are actually on the Orange County Zoo in Irvine.

There have been different latest mountain lion deaths within the space attributed to rodent poison.

Final June, a younger mountain lion was present in a yard in Newbury Park’s Dos Vientos neighborhood additionally died from anticoagulant rodenticide.

And in 2019, two mountain lions that have been a part of the examine have been discovered useless, each with indicators that they ingested rat poison.