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National Park Service shows off newest study subjects

SANTA MONICA -- Two mountain lion kittens, named P-43 and P-44, are the newest members of a study in California by the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service.

On Tuesday, the Santa Monica Mountain rangers released photos of the baby mountain lions on their Facebook page.

According to the National Park Service blog, the two kittens, sporting bright blue eyes and tiny teeth, are from two separate litters on opposite ends of the study area. On the blog they estimate the tiny spotted mountain lions are between just three and four weeks old.

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P-44. National Park Service

The study began in 2002, according to the National Park Service blog, and shows that a mountain lion and his offspring are surviving in the Santa Monica Mountains. Radio collars track them as they navigate through urban spaces and reproduce.

One of the newest additions to the study, P-43, is a young female found in a remote area of the Santa Monica Mountains near Malibu Creek State Park, according to the National Park Service blog. P-44, the second kitten, is also a female. She lives further north in the Santa Susana Mountains.

Biologist Jeff Sikich is responsible for tracking down the kittens using a GPS. According to the blog, biologists go to the den where the mountain lions live during the day because the mother is out hunting. The National Park Service reports that P-43 was found by Sikich underneath thick brush in a hollowed out area.

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PS-43 in her den. National Park Service

In order to add the kittens to the study, one person, such as Sikich, enters the den and brings the kitten to a work-up area at least 100-meters away from its den. Then a small team of biologists quickly get to work taking measurements and samples. According to the blog, they then mark the kittens in some way so they can be tracked.

The mother of P-43 is believed to be P-23, a mountain lion who gained local notoriety in 2013 when she was pictured on top of a dead deer on a highway. The National Park Service has been following P-23 since she was three weeks old, according to the blog.

A lion on top of a deer on Mulholland Hwy! This is P-23, a young female who has recently dispersed from mom. Of the 400+...

Posted by Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area on Wednesday, August 28, 2013

What makes these new research subjects unique is that they are a single litter, according to the National Park Service. It is the first single litter the researchers have noted since the study began.

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