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Going Green: Cat scratch fever
Zara McDonald knows how we can keep our paws off mountain lions...

by Tanya Henry

We have all seen the warning signs for mountain lions. Most of us know that dawn and dusk are the worst times to be out alone or with small children roaming the single-track trails in Marin, as these are prime feeding times for many animals—including mountain lions.

The majority of Marinites have read about attacks, but few of us can really be certain whether we've ever actually seen a mountain lion before. The fact of the matter is that most of us know very little—basically next to nothing—about mountain lions. And Zara McDonald wants to change that.

McDonald is founder of the Tiburon-based Felidae Conservation Fund, an agency committed to protecting almost 40 different species of cats. The Mill Valley native came to her current role as the nonprofit's executive director in a rather circuitous way, citing a pair of incidents in her life that had a profound effect—ultimately changing her career course from technology to mountain lion advocacy. As an 18-year-old undergraduate, McDonald suffered a head-on collision with a car while riding her bike near the University of South Carolina. "The accident contributed to a huge leap in my growth," says McDonald, who was thrown from her bike, went through the oncoming car's windshield and broke her jaw in two places. She damaged her spleen so badly it had to be removed, and most of her teeth were knocked out. McDonald describes how it took seven doctors "to put her back together." The other event McDonald credits as leading her toward working with big cats was sighting a mountain lion in the Marin Headlands. She describes being awestruck, never threatened and thoroughly impressed by the amazing cat.

Today, after receiving an MBA from Berkeley's Haas School of Business and spending a number of years working in technology, she claims to have found her calling. Along the way, she and a classmate developed early wristband GPS technology (which she is now using for tracking cats) and she started medical school. But McDonald decided she would rather do "field work" and even went to India to study yoga for six months "to figure out what was next."

McDonald gets animated when she talks about her work and her organization's commitment to protecting mountain lions and their habitats. "An incredible amount of information is being translated from scientists—but there is no awareness in the public," laments McDonald, who feels strongly that the public should be educated about the massive loss of habitat mountain lions are experiencing due to land development. She says isolated populations are created if these cats have no pathways to move beyond populated areas. She also says that a mountain lion's life expectancy is 13 to 14 years in the wild, but many only live seven. She cites the most common cause of death in California as "depredation permits," which, she claims, allow landowners to have cats shot if they have preyed upon livestock or other animals on their property. McDonald feels that better education and reminders to landowners on ways to discourage hungry animals from entering their property would curb this practice considerably.

Felidae—named after the biological family of 37 cat species including cheetahs, cougars and bobcats—is about to embark on a 10-year San Francisco Bay Area Puma Research and Conservation Study. In mid-April, a group of scientists, Department or Fish & Game officials and an animal physiologist will begin studying groups of mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Highway 17. They hope to determine the cats' hunting patterns, pathways and much more. An innovative collaring program will be utilized to capture data and offer valuable insight as to a cat's daily movements. "It is important to study the same animals and their patterns over a long period of time," explains McDonald, who hopes long-term results of the study will lead to the building of overpasses and other pathways "to help us [humans] better exist with these creatures."

McDonald is encouraged that Caltrans has expressed interest in the data, which could help inform them in their future construction of roads and highways. Ultimately McDonald hopes the study will identify where the cats will need to move in order to survive and raise their young.

Although it will be 10 years before the puma study concludes, McDonald says there is much the public can do to help this keystone species stay alive. In rural areas like Marin, one of the things that can impact these cats' lives is making an effort to keep deer off of one's property. This will help keep mountain lions on their paths and not distract them. Also, by leaving what she refers to as "movement corridors," male lions will continue on their course and hunt, as they normally do, in less developed regions.

Eventually McDonald hopes that mountain lion populations will be studied in Marin County. Although much of the field work will initially take place in Santa Cruz and the East Bay, part of her organization's plan includes an extensive local, community-based education program. Her newly opened storefront at 116 Main Street on Ark Row in Tiburon offers the opportunity for volunteers to sign up to help with outreach, event planning and ultimately an education model for schools. Of course this all takes funding and McDonald is in the process of raising an initial $50,000 for her pilot study. She says there has been no lack of interest in her work; she's even been approached by a filmmaker.

If you, too, want to help, visit www.felidaefund.org or check out her new store with plenty of cool bronze sculptures of, you guessed it, large cats.

A lion's share of cougar info

Mountain lion, puma, cougar, panther—this cat is known by more names than just about any other mammal.

The mountain lion is found over a wider range than any other mammal in the Western Hemisphere, except for man.

Mountain lions can leap up to a height of 18 feet from the ground into a tree.

Mountain lions are good swimmers, but they prefer not to get in the water as they don't seem to like getting wet.

Some mountain lions eat porcupines—quills and all—without any harm.

How to ensure the only hungry big cat you'll meet is Tony the Tiger:

Encounters with mountain lions are rare. But if you live, work or recreate in mountain lion habitat, there are things you can do to enhance your safety and that of friends and family.

When it comes to personal safety, always be aware of your surroundings, wherever you are; conduct yourself and attend to children and dependents accordingly.

• Landscape for safety. Remove vegetation that provides cover for cougars. Remove plants that attract wildlife (deer, raccoons, etc.). By attracting them you naturally attract their predator—the cougar.

• Don't feed wildlife. Don't leave pet food outside. Both may attract cougars by attracting their natural prey.

• Keep pets secure. Roaming pets are easy prey for cougars.

• Confine and secure any livestock (especially at night) in pens, sheds and barns.

• Don't approach a cougar. Most cougars want to avoid humans. Give a cougar the time and space to steer clear of you.

• Supervise children, especially outdoors between dusk and dawn. Educate them about cougars and other wildlife they might encounter.

• Always hike, backpack and camp in wild areas with a companion.

• Never run past or from a cougar. This may trigger their instinct to chase. Make eye contact. Stand your ground. Pick up small children without, if possible, turning away or bending over.

• Never bend over or crouch down. Doing so causes humans to resemble four-legged prey animals. Crouching down or bending over also makes the neck and back of the head vulnerable.—Courtesy of the Mountain Lion Federation