In the quilt of public and private lands that fall within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, wild and domestic animals live relatively side-by-side. But when animals such as mountain lions view alpacas and goats as meals, then California officials can essentially sign death warrants for the cats. That's been done in the case of P-45, a mountain lion thought to be responsible for the recent predation of 11 alpacas and a goat.

National Park Service researchers recently discovered two litters of mountain lion kittens in the eastern Santa Susana Mountains. A total of five kittens, three females and two males, were eartagged and returned to their respective dens earlier this month.

Nearly four decades after he signed into law some of the most sweeping pieces of legislation affecting the National Park System, former President Jimmy Carter has been made an honorary park ranger.

Radio collars on wildlife can provide invaluable data to researchers pertaining to the animal's movements and, in some cases, response to climate change. So when a collar falls off, goes silent, or the animal dies, a lot of potential research is scuttled. That's the case in Los Angeles, where a female coyote that was being tracked by National Park Service researchers appears to have drowned.