Dispersal of juvenile cougars in fragmented habitat

Beier radio-tracked juvenile cougars dispersing through the fragmented Santa Ana Mountains of southern California, documenting how young animals leave their natal areas and search for territory amid expanding urbanization. The study showed that dispersing juveniles relied on habitat corridors to move between mountain ranges and that the loss of such linkages would isolate and imperil the population. It provided some of the earliest empirical movement data demonstrating that corridors are not merely theoretical conveniences but routes that real dispersing cats actually use. The work directly informed conservation planning for southern California pumas and the broader case for maintaining connectivity. It remains a foundational reference on felid dispersal and the practical importance of corridors in human-dominated landscapes.