Adults have no spots but usually have black-tipped ears and tail. An adult male may have a home range spanning 100 square miles and an adult female 20-60 square miles with population densities averaging three lion per 100 square miles in desert areas to seven to ten lions per 100 square miles in the western Sierras and northwestern part of California. Life in the wild is not easy for the mountain lion. From a typical litter of three kittens, two will survive the first year and one will survive to breeding age. Adults may live 12 years in the wild and up to 25 years in captivity.
Deer provide the lion's primary food source.
As with all California native wildlife, managing the mountain lion is the responsibility of the California Department of Fish and Game. Much of the present controversy surrounding the mountain lion involves the question of whether the mountain lion population in California is increasing and whether this is leading to increased contact with the human population in California. The Department has undertaken studies in recent years and produced statistics which indicate an increase in lion-human interaction but cannot state that the population is, in fact, increasing. Part of the problem stems from the fact that the human population has grown significantly in recent years. Many of these people are settling in the outskirts of urbanized areas and are visiting undeveloped and wilderness areas in greater numbers than ever before.