In today's newscast:
Pumas are getting used to sharing their habitat with people
In a new study in Current Biology, UC Santa Cruz graduate student John Morgan and colleagues studied GPS data from collars on mountain lions and trail-use data from users of the exercise tracking app Strava. They found the mountain lions have learned when popular trails are busy.
"They're honing in on these long-term trends in human trail use," Morgan said, adding that they're avoiding places when people are most likely to be there.
He says contrary to popular perception, the mountain lions that are more often around people are not more likely to cause conflicts.
"It's actually these individuals that are more exposed to people that are, perhaps, behaving a little bit differently and showing higher levels of tolerance."
The UCSC Puma Project works with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and other partners. Morgan says the new findings could help inform future planning.
“We have a lot of valuable open space and protected area that we're really fortunate to have, both for our own recreation opportunities and to provide mountain lion habitat," he said. "But when we think about the quality of that habitat for the long-term persistence of mountain lions, I think it's important that we consider these recreation impacts.”
Bill would create a new "wobbler"
And from our partner CapRadio, a bill at the statehouse would allow prosecutors to charge sexual battery committed during a home break-in as a "wobbler." That means it could be punished as a misdemeanor or as a felony.
Erin Harper with Crime Victims and Survivors spoke in support.
"Current law recognizes the heightened danger of harm of home intrusions for offenses such as indecent exposure and child molestation," she said. "However, there remains a gap in the law when an offender enters a home without consent and commits a sexual battery that does not meet the other elements of another felony offense."
Opponents say the bill’s expansion of wobbler sentencing inappropriately broadens the criminal code and risks exacerbating mass incarceration.
