UC Santa Cruz researchers have been tracking the movements of six mountain lions in Santa Cruz County for some time.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, they were curious to see how the big cats would respond to humans retreating to their homes.
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Since the pandemic began, human run-ins with wild animals seem to have increased in a major way.
"There were more mountain lion movements into cities during the shutdown," Chris Wilmers, an environmental science professor at the university, told KCBS Radio. "And just sort of generally they relaxed their fear of cities when deciding where to go."
Previous research suggested that mountain lions fear the sound of humans. But when they don’t hear any humans around, Wilmers said the cats become more confident.
"I think it's the reduction of human-generated noise that cues mountain lions that there are humans around," he said.
Wilmers argued that similar dynamics could also possibly help explain the increased run-ins we’ve seen with other species as well. The research is a reminder of the outsized impact humans have on the natural world, Williams said.
Even when we’re just moving around.
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