Mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains already know when hikers and mountain bikers are nearby, and they move away. That is one of the central findings from a new study published in the journal Current Biology, which tracked the movements of 36 wild pumas over six years to understand how the animals navigate one of California's most heavily used outdoor recreation landscapes.
According to the report in Phys.org, researchers analyzed GPS collar data from pumas fitted with tracking devices beginning in 2020 at locations including Rancho San Antonio and Monte Bello open space preserves, both managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. To map human activity, the team used data from Strava, the popular fitness tracking app used by hikers, runners, and mountain bikers.
The results showed that mountain lions were tuned in to long-term recreation patterns. Pumas consistently avoided heavily trafficked trails, particularly staying away from areas within 30 meters, about 100 feet, of trail sections with the highest average hourly use. The animals appeared to be making proactive, not reactive, decisions about where to travel.
"If you're a hiker or mountain biker in these spaces, mountain lions already know you're there, and they're avoiding the area," said Chris Wilmers, a UC Santa Cruz environmental studies professor and senior author of the study.
The study also looked at what the researchers defined broadly as conflict, a category that included both benign events like reported sightings and situations where mountain lions posed a perceived or actual threat to people or domestic animals. Understanding what drives those incidents was a key goal of the research.
John Morgan, a doctoral candidate in environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz and lead author of the study, explained why the questions carry particular weight right now. "These questions are especially important because this is all taking place in a population that's newly listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act," Morgan said.
Morgan also described the core challenge facing land managers in the region. "Mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains are at increased risk of extinction, due to a lack of genetic diversity and habitat connectivity. So how can we continue to provide recreation opportunities while also protecting habitat in a way that's safe for people and mountain lions?"
The Santa Cruz Mountains attract millions of visitors each year from neighboring Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. The region supports a world-class network of hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trails, making it one of the most active recreation corridors in California. That the same land serves as critical habitat for one of North America's largest terrestrial predators adds complexity to how public agencies manage the space.
The puma population in the Santa Cruz Mountains faces threats beyond human recreation. Limited genetic diversity and fragmented habitat have contributed to the listing under the California Endangered Species Act. The study's findings offer land managers concrete data about how trail placement and usage levels relate to animal behavior and human safety, which could inform decisions about where future trails are built or how existing ones are managed.
The research was conducted in partnership with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, which manages several of the preserves where the GPS collars were deployed. The Current Biology paper represents one of the most detailed looks yet at how a large carnivore population adapts its daily movements in response to chronic, sustained human presence rather than isolated encounters.
