It is now well-known that illicit cannabis cultivation impacts many species of forest wildlife, either by direct mortality or indirectly through sublethal exposure to pesticides, water theft, and habitat manipulation. Given the rampant spread of illegal cultivation in northwestern California over the past two decades and our lack of knowledge about how these activities impact mountain lions (Puma concolor) and the species they rely on for food, we studied the risks to mountain lions from illegal cannabis cultivation and the pesticides associated with this activity. For the first phase of this project, our objectives were to: 1) analyze prey selection and spatial foraging patterns of lions in northwestern California; 2) visit kill sites to determine diet and exposure of prey to anticoagulant rodenticides and other toxicants found at trespass cannabis grow sites; and 3) analyze lion movement and home ranges in relation to the distribution of both public land cannabis cultivation sites and private land, unlicensed sites on the National Forests and private lands adjacent to the Hoopa Valley Reservation in northwestern California.

Dr. Greta Wengert is the Executive Director of Integral Ecology Research Center, a non-profit research organization. Greta earned her B.S. in Natural Resources at Cornell University, M.S. in Wildlife Ecology at Humboldt State University, and Ph.D. in Ecology at U.C. Davis, with over 25 years of ecological research experience throughout California. Her research focuses on the relationships among forest vertebrates and how they are impacted by natural and human influences. Since 2012, her research has expanded to include the environmental impacts from cannabis cultivation and the direct effects on terrestrial ecosystems from pesticides and habitat manipulation associated with cultivation.