An Orange County park was briefly shut down Tuesday after two individuals reported mountain lion sightings the day earlier than.
In one of many incidents, a pair of cyclists filmed a mountain lion following them alongside a cliffside path, conduct that wildlife officers described as uncommon.
Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park shall be closed till additional discover “out of an abundance of warning,” OC Parks stated in a press release.
Parks employees are working with researchers from the California Division of Fish and Wildlife and biologists at UC Davis’ Wildlife Well being Heart to higher perceive the mountain lion’s conduct, Danielle Kennedy, public data officer with OC Parks, stated in an e mail. They plan to position cameras across the park to trace the animal’s exercise and search for proof comparable to contemporary tracks and scat, she stated.
UC Davis biologists are additionally reviewing the video supplied by one of many bikers, who reported the encounter to authorities, Kennedy stated.
The video posted to Fb on Monday exhibits the mountain lion rising from the comb to comply with the cyclists alongside the path, which was flanked by a steep hill on one aspect and a steep drop-off on the opposite. The cougar continues advancing because the cyclists shout for it to get again. At one level, it pauses and watches them again away, then seemingly expenses, leaping to the aspect of the path simply earlier than it reaches them. ABC7 first reported on the video.
“That is tremendous out-of-the-ordinary conduct,” stated Cort Klopping, a Fish and Wildlife spokesperson. Pumas usually keep away from individuals — to the purpose the place an individual is a thousand instances extra prone to be struck by lighting than attacked by a mountain lion, he stated.
It’s unclear why the animal was so within the cyclists, Kennedy stated. Some on-line commenters of the video speculated it was a mom trying to escort the bicyclists away from her cubs. In February, researchers collared a feminine mountain lion in Orange County that had offspring on the time, Kennedy stated. UC Davis biologists have confirmed this collared feminine was in Whiting Ranch on Monday, however it wasn’t clear whether or not she nonetheless had cubs together with her, and the mountain lion captured on the video was not collared and was unknown to the biologists, Kennedy stated.
Based mostly on the video, UC Davis biologists consider the mountain lion — a juvenile of an undetermined gender — was displaying conduct associated to curiosity, relatively than appearing defensively, Kennedy stated. It’s unclear whether or not the identical mountain lion was concerned in each sightings, she stated.
Lindsay Velez, who lives in close by Rancho Santa Margarita, stated she bumped into the 2 mountain bikers Monday as they exited the path, which she was getting ready to hike up together with her 12-year-old daughter. They confirmed her the video and warned her away, she stated.
Velez stated she’s conscious that mountain lions frequent the realm: “I carry bear spray with me in all places, and never for bears.” But it surely looks like there’s been an uptick of exercise within the final week, she stated, including {that a} buddy of hers reported seeing a mountain lion within the yard of her house not removed from Whiting Ranch the identical night time.
With its steep hillside and dense brush, the park within the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains has a historical past of mountain lion exercise. There have been three mountain lion assaults there since 2004, Kennedy stated, together with one which resulted within the demise of Mark Reynolds, 35, who was mauled when he crouched down on a path to repair his bicycle chain.
Nonetheless, Reynolds’ demise was simply the sixth on document in California, in keeping with a Occasions report in its aftermath. Since then, another demise has been recorded — that of Taylen Robert Claude Brooks, 21, who was killed by a mountain lion whereas he was looking for deer antlers in northern El Dorado County final March.
Those that encounter a mountain lion ought to take care to not flip their again on it and may make themselves appear as giant as attainable by extending their arms and making a number of noise, Klopping stated. They need to again away slowly, relatively than run, and take care to not crouch or bend over, he stated.
Pets must be stored on-leash in order that they don’t method the animal, and young children must be held shut, ideally up on an grownup’s shoulders, he stated. Individuals also needs to be certain that the animal has a transparent escape route, he stated.
Individuals can scale back the dangers of such encounters in areas vulnerable to sightings by refraining from biking or jogging at daybreak, nightfall or nighttime, and it’s finest to partake in these actions in teams, Klopping stated.
