Habitat fragmentation and destruction cause big problems for far-ranging animals like pumas. There are obvious effects, like when 16M got hit by a car on Highway 17, but there are more cryptic problems as well. Here is a recent article on how roads and human infrastructure are causing inbreeding in Southern California. Our study area has two small corridors left that connect the Santa Cruz Mountain puma population with the rest of California, but we could see similar things happen here if those important open spaces are lost.
The Florida panther population is probably similar in size to the Santa Cruz Mountain population, and they have seen some undesirable traits pop up due to inbreeding. The population down there is very closely monitored, so wildlife managers were able to introduce some new genes into the population before problems got too bad, but their experience highlights the importance of maintaining corridors and serves as a good cautionary tale for our local pumas.