An Orange County park was quickly shut down Tuesday after two folks 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 might be closed till additional discover “out of an abundance of warning,” OC Parks mentioned in a press release.
Parks workers are working with researchers from the California Division of Fish and Wildlife and biologists at UC Davis’ Wildlife Well being Middle to raised perceive the mountain lion’s conduct, Danielle Kennedy, public data officer with OC Parks, mentioned in an electronic mail. They plan to position cameras across the park to trace the animal’s exercise and search for proof akin to recent tracks and scat, she mentioned.
UC Davis biologists are additionally reviewing the video supplied by one of many bikers, who reported the encounter to authorities, Kennedy mentioned.
The video posted to Fb on Monday reveals the mountain lion rising from the comb to comply with the cyclists alongside the path, which was flanked by a steep hill on one facet 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 prices, leaping to the facet of the path simply earlier than it reaches them. ABC7 first reported on the video.
“That is tremendous out-of-the-ordinary conduct,” mentioned Cort Klopping, a Fish and Wildlife spokesperson. Pumas usually keep away from folks — 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 mentioned.
It’s unclear why the animal was so within the cyclists, Kennedy mentioned. 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 mentioned. UC Davis biologists have confirmed this collared feminine was in Whiting Ranch on Monday, nevertheless 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 mentioned.
Primarily based on the video, UC Davis biologists imagine the mountain lion — a juvenile of an undetermined gender — was displaying conduct associated to curiosity, relatively than performing defensively, Kennedy mentioned. It’s unclear whether or not the identical mountain lion was concerned in each sightings, she mentioned.
Lindsay Velez, who lives in close by Rancho Santa Margarita, mentioned she bumped into the 2 mountain bikers Monday as they exited the path, which she was making ready to hike up together with her 12-year-old daughter. They confirmed her the video and warned her away, she mentioned.
Velez mentioned she’s conscious that mountain lions frequent the world: “I carry bear spray with me all over the place, and never for bears.” However it looks as if there’s been an uptick of exercise within the final week, she mentioned, including {that a} good friend of hers reported seeing a mountain lion within the yard of her dwelling not removed from Whiting Ranch the identical evening.
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 mentioned, together with one which resulted within the loss of life of Mark Reynolds, 35, who was mauled when he crouched down on a path to repair his bicycle chain.
Nonetheless, Reynolds’ loss of life was simply the sixth on file in California, in line with a Occasions report in its aftermath. Since then, yet one more loss of life has been recorded — that of Taylen Robert Claude Brooks, 21, who was killed by a mountain lion whereas he was trying to find 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 potential by extending their arms and making a whole lot of noise, Klopping mentioned. They need to again away slowly, relatively than run, and take care to not crouch or bend over, he mentioned.
Pets must be saved on-leash in order that they don’t method the animal, and babies must be held shut, ideally up on an grownup’s shoulders, he mentioned. Individuals must also be certain the animal has a transparent escape route, he mentioned.
Individuals can cut back the dangers of such encounters in areas liable to sightings by refraining from biking or jogging at daybreak, nightfall or nighttime, and it’s greatest to partake in these actions in teams, Klopping mentioned.
