Wildlife. The Fight for Space. : As homes march up hillsides and offices sprout on fields, Orange County’s wildlife battles for its dwindlng habitat. : SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Cougar Population Appears Stable

Orange County’s mountain lions, faced with encroachment by housing development and highways, have so far held on, actually managing to carve a wild niche in an increasingly urban environment.

Three new litters this year have added to a population of about 35 of the pale-brown hunters, and though several of the cubs have probably died young, researchers say the lion population appears stable, at least for the time being. These days, lion sightings in the county are not uncommon, with at least two unconfirmed reports a month, according to Tim Miller, manager of the county’s regional parks.

But the lions’ habitat is fast disappearing, and experts fear that their time in Orange County could soon end unless action is taken to buffer them from people.

One proposal to protect those habitats will go before California voters in June, and would set aside $30 million a year to protect habitats, $10 million of which would be targeted toward deer and lion areas.

The proposal would also permanently ban sport hunting of mountain lions, but wildlife experts are unconvinced that the ban is needed. Mountain lions, also known as cougars or pumas, are not endangered, and in fact have staged a decade-long comeback in California, rebounding from a population of less than 1,000 in the early 1970s to between 2,500 and 6,000 today, researchers say.

“There is no biological justification for the hunting ban,” said Paul Beier, project director of an Orange County mountain lion study that has collared and tracked cougars in the county since 1986, when, in separate incidents, two children were attacked and mauled by lions at Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park, near San Juan Capistrano.

During that study, nine lions have been collared, and seven currently carry the radio transmitters. Using those devices to track and map the cougars, Beier and his colleagues have been able to determine that they range over wide areas in and around Orange County.

Each of four females living near Caspers Park, for instance, has established a “home range” of up to 77 square miles, traveling mainly along canyon bottoms and hunting deer mostly at night.

Although the lions do not seek contact with humans and attacks are rare, the crush of civilization brings lions and people ever closer. That worries some experts, who hope to save the lions and protect humans at the same time.

“There’s no question but that conflicts are going to occur,” Miller said. “We’ve got all these young kittens out there, and the growth is, of course, continuing. We’re concerned. That’s why we’re studying the lions very carefully.”