United States
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Now updated with a new preface: a full-colour celebration of coexistence with California’s iconic wildlife.
Wildness beats in the heart of California’s urban areas, and across the state Californians are taking action to recast wildlife as an integral part of our everyday lives. In Los Angeles, residents rallied to build one of the largest wildlife crossings in the world because of the plight of one lonely mountain lion named P-22. Porpoises cavort in San Francisco Bay again because of a grassroots effort to clean up a waterway that was once a toxic mess. Yosemite’s park staff and millions of visitors have mobilized to keep its famed bears wild. And after a near century-long absence, Californians are welcoming wolves back to the state, inspired by the remarkable journey of the wolf OR-7. When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors explores this evolving dynamic between humans and animals. Now updated with a new preface, these inspiring stories celebrate a new model for wildlife conservation: coexistence.
Preface to the 2024 Edition
Foreword by Collin O'Mara, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation
Introduction: The Wild Wonder of California
Chapter 1 A Mountain Lion in Hollywoodland: Can People and Wildlife Coexist in the Second-Largest City in the Nation?
Steve Winter: Photographing P-22
Rat Poison: A Threat to P-22 and All Wildlife
How David Crosby Advanced Mountain Lion Research
Meet the Other Cougars of Los Angeles
Making Cougarmagic: Tracking Mountain Lions with Cameras
Meatball, the Glendale Bear
Charismatic Microfauna: The Bugs of LA
Calling in the Marines for the Desert Tortoise
Chapter 2 They Left Their Hearts in San Francisco: The Amazing Return of the Harbor Porpoise
Become a Porpoise Citizen Scientist
Sutro Sam: San Francisco's First River Otter in Fifty Years
Lake Merritt: Connecting People and Wildlife in Oakland
A Community Rallies Around the Martinez Beavers
The Pollinator Posse to the Rescue of Monarch Butterflies
On Urban Raptors: GGRO Director Allen Fish
Saving California Sea Lions at the Marine Mammal Center
The Urban Coyote
Chapter 3 Keeping Bears Wild: How Staff and Visitors in Yosemite National Park Help Wildlife
Phil Frank: A Cartoonist Advocates for Yosemite's Bears
The Return of the California Grizzly?
Slow Down for Yosemite's Bears
Bighorn Sheep Get a Helping Hand
How Does a Fisher Cross the Road?
A Plea for the Pika
Great Gray Owls Go Digital
The Love Song of the Yosemite Toad
Chapter 4 Friending Wildlife: The Facebook Foxes and Wildlife Corridors in Silicon Valley's High-Tech World
Bakersfield Shares a City with Endangered Foxes
Peregrine Falcons Nesting at San Jose City Hall
Google Provides a Safe Haven for Egrets
Larry Ellison Founds an Innovative Wildlife Center
Farming for Native Bees
Elephant Seals: The Comeback Kids
Up Close with a California Condor
Chapter 5 The Incredible Journey: California Welcomes Back Wolves after Ninety Years
The California Wolf Center
OR-7: The Movie
Buddy the Wolverine: Another Lonely Wanderer
Bringing Back Salmon with the California Conservation Corps
"Refrogging" California by Building Wetlands
Ranchers Helping Ringtails in the Sutter Buttes
Rice Farmers Sharing Their Fields with Sandhill Cranes
Good Neighbors: What Californians Are Doing for Wildlife in Their Own Backyards
Craig Newmark
Elizabeth Sarmiento
The Town of Alpine
Susan Gottlieb
California Conservation Corps Campuses
San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront
Leo Politi Elementary School
Peter Coyote
Northrop Ranch
Diane Ellis
The City of Chula Vista
Get Involved
Acknowledgments
Photo Credits
About the Author
"Interweaves hope and examples of ongoing, broad solution approaches [...] by focusing on the importance of relationship/education, connectivity, and finally citizen science on the parts of people just like us gardeners, nature lovers, thinkers."
– Jennifer Jewell, Cultivating Place
"Filled with unforgettable stories that will spark the desire to help, this is the wildlife book that everyone needs to read. Bravo!"
– Amy Lignor, Feathered Quill Book Reviews
"This delightful book details our ever-evolving relationship with Earth's wildest creatures, promising that peaceful coexistence is possible."
– Jennifer Holland, author of the best-selling Unlikely Friendships series
"Here is a book full of essential wisdom."
– Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild
"When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors focuses on a serious problem by presenting meaningful solutions, and is as enjoyable to read as it is informative."
– Foreword Reviews
"A contemporary and exciting view of conservation that we all can celebrate."
– Ed Begley Jr.
