Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area - Animals

The Santa Monica Mountains support an abundant and diverse wildlife community, which is reflective of the diversity of the vegetative communities encompassed by the park boundary. More than 450 vertebrate species occur in the park, including 50 mammals, 384 birds, and 36 reptiles and amphibians. The relatively intact wildlife populations of the mountains are especially impressive considering their proximity to one of the largest urban areas in the United States. The continued maintenance of wildlife populations in the Santa Monica Mountains is dependent on the ability of public and private land managers to ensure adequate habitat for the most sensitive species. Urban development within the Mountains continues to remove and fragment habitat available to wildlife, as it fingers up canyons, expands in pockets of low lying land, tops ridges, and encroaches on habitat adjacent to protected public land.