When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors: People and Wildlife Working It Out in California

by Beth Pratt, 2024. Paperback, 248 pages.

Now updated with a new preface: a full-color 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.

About the Author

Beth Pratt has worked in environmental leadership roles for over thirty years, and in two of the country’s largest national parks: Yosemite and Yellowstone. As the California Regional Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation, Pratt led the #SaveLACougars campaign to build the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing outside of Los Angeles. Her innovative conservation work has been featured by the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, BBC World Service, CNN, CBS This Morning, the Los Angeles Times, Men’s Journal, the Guardian, NPR, AP News, and more. Beth makes her home outside of Yosemite, "my north star," with her six dogs, two cats, and the mountain lions, bears, foxes, frogs, and other wildlife that frequent her backyard.