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Mountain lions need more room to roam, experts say

The National Park Service's Seth Riley, left, and Jeff Sikich stand at a wall overlooking the 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon Road in Agoura Hills, where a mountain lion was fatally struck by a car in October 2013 while attempting to cross. The area is part of a critical wildlife corridor.

The National Park Service’s Seth Riley, left, and Jeff Sikich stand at a wall overlooking the 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon Road in Agoura Hills, where a mountain lion was fatally struck by a car in October 2013 while attempting to cross. The area is part of a critical wildlife corridor.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Though a small population of mountain lions is surviving in the Santa Monica Mountains, signs of inbreeding and a cougar’s deadly crossing of the 101 Freeway suggest mountain lions need to be able to move more freely between open lands, wildlife experts say.

Seth Riley

Urban wildlife expert Seth Riley walks a trail on Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy land near Malibu Creek State Park. The trail overlooks the location of a proposed wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway near the Liberty Canyon Road exit.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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