This is some pretty amazing and highly rare video — seldom do you get footage of five, count 'em FIVE, California mountain lions all hanging out together. The big cats were captured on home surveillance video, in a rare gathering of the typically solitary critters.
"We shared the videos and photos with several of our wildlife biologists and none of them could recall ever seeing five mountain lions together in the same photo or video," said California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Peter Tira.
KTXL News broadcast this home surveillance video footage from a residence in Amador County.
According to the biologists, the only time more than one mountain lion can be seen together is either during the mating season or when a mother is raising her cubs, but typically only three at most are seen together. "Extraordinary to capture five together for sure," Tira told FOX40. "There's one lion that clearly looks to be bigger and larger than the others, so we assume that to be the mother lion."
Tira said mountain lions, also known as cougars, typically live solitary lives. During the mating season, two adults will meet but Tira said January is not mating season. "They're not very tolerant of other mountain lions in their territories," Tira said.
According to Tira, the other lions are likely the mother's cubs but he does not believe all of them are from the same litter. "Potentially could be two different age classes, some yearlings and maybe a 2-year-old lion that she may have had earlier," he said.
People who live in Amador County can learn more about protecting their animals and keeping mountain lions safe by visiting keepmewild.org.
READ MORE:
• Home surveillance captures rare footage of five mountain lions together in California [fox13now.com]
• Rare video shows 5 mountain lions together in California [AP]
