For park rangers, the footage is a very good sign.
A pair of mountain lion kittens feasting on a deer carcass has been caught on camera in the Santa Monica Mountains. The little big cats are even heard “chirping” for their mother, which the National Park Service says is a mountain lion known as P-42.
It’s not clear when they were born, but the kittens do look healthy.
“Recently we captured this cute footage of P-42’s two untagged kittens feeding on a deer, chirping for mom, and just generally being kittens,” rangers posted on social media. “So far this is looking like a happier ending than P-42’s litter from last year, which she abandoned.”
An adult collared cat at the end of the video is presumably their mother.
California’s mountain lions have long be a species of fascination in the region.
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area says it doesn’t know the exact number of mountain lions so close to a major North American city, but estimate the amount of land available can only support 10 to 15 of the animals.
Rangers don’t know when P-42’s kittens were born, but they do hope to eventually outfit them with a GPS collars to watch them as they grow and see where they go.
“Capturing them will also give us a chance to run their DNA and see how they may be related to other mountain lions in the area,” the service added.
Meanwhile, enjoy this “general kitten cuteness.”
Mountain lion P-42 has kittens! Turn up the volume to hear the chirping and general kitten cuteness. These kittens will face many challenges to survive — we hope to GPS collar them when they’re older so we can learn about their transition to adulthood and dispersal. #catvideos pic.twitter.com/N6uXTgeux1
— Santa Monica Mtns (@SantaMonicaMtns) January 26, 2018
Photos National Park Service/Facebook
