On to the next site.ДЄ 2018 study found that there are 10 genetically distinct subpopulations of mountain lions in the state, with low genetic diversity in areas with high urbanisation and human development. вЂњLetвЂ™s see here,вЂќ says Richie, flicking through the camera trap footage on his laptop. Although, as a community in the Simi Hills were reminded in December when a dog was killed, mountain lions do prey on pets.ДЄ remote camera captures a mother known to researchers as P-13 and her 10-month-old kittens feeding in Malibu Creek State Park. Feared, persecuted and hunted in every US state where they are found, apart from California, the animal is rarely dangerous to humans and barely seen. Mountain lions, known as pumas, cougars, panthers or brown tigers depending on where you are in the western hemisphere, are fabled, secretive carnivores. There is a serious point to the Puma ProjectвЂ™s research and the work of their counterparts across the state. What he does вЂ“ what all mountain lions love to do вЂ“ is grab the deer and drag it off into the bushes,вЂќ he adds, detailing how the pulley system tied to the dead animal sends signals to research satellites. вЂњIf any mountain lion is in the vicinity, theyвЂ™ll hear this at night time and come to investigate. The way that works is we play a distressed sound of a rabbit,вЂќ Richie explains, unleashing terrified screams from a speaker to make his point. вЂњWe use the mountain lionвЂ™s natural ecology to trigger our trap. Photographs: Patrick Greenfield/The Guardian Wildlife biologist Richie King checks a camera trap and, bottom left, mountain lion paw prints. Aside from the flies, humming as they feast somewhere inside the animal, nothing else is about. Then, high in the mountain, a dead deer lying on its side and tied to an oak emerges in the shade. We continue driving, the pickup roaring as we heave over fallen trees. A line of mountain lion paw prints cover the sandy track in the direction of the camera traps. But in a clearing, King suddenly stops and inspects the road. The Toyota Tacoma grumbles its way through the Californian oaks as we travel to the first bait site.

Data from this area, surrounded by Silicon Valley, farmland and the Pacific Ocean, is vital to understanding the threats to the species in the region. If they feed on the deer or he finds a kill site, he returns with a cage and collars the mountain lion so it can be tracked by the the Santa Cruz Puma Project, overseen by Prof Chris Wilmers at UC Santa Cruz. King, a wildlife biologist, spends his days setting camera traps at bait sites for the big cats. The suspicious plastic boxes behind our seats are empty today, he promises, chuckling, as we drive into CaliforniaвЂ™s Sierra Azul mountains.Д«ut we are both hoping the smell of fermenting roadkill proves irresistible for an elusive predator in these hills: mountain lions. T he lingering stench from putrefying deer carcasses is so powerful in Richie KingвЂ™s pickup truck that his neighbours once reported him to the police.

Mountain lion tracks