Nearby, but Still Wild

The rugged trails of Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Orange County have been popular with runners, hikers, bikers, even families out for a stroll. It’s convenient, a wilderness of dappled shade and red-rock crags within walking distance of suburbia. But it’s still wilderness, as people were jarringly reminded last week when a mountain lion killed a man and seriously injured a woman. Danger has not been erased amid the aromatic white sage and gnarled live oaks.

Recent development in Southern California has brought dense suburban tracts to the edge of and into open, wild acreage. Adjacent wilderness becomes the recreational equivalent of a neighborhood park. Families pick up a picnic lunch at the local supermarket, then walk to the end of the shopping strip to find a popular trailhead.

Suburban life and wildlife often make for bad neighbors. Coyotes that feed off carelessly left-out trash and dog food -- and the occasional pet cat -- have become far too comfortable around people. Some cougar experts theorize that the lions also have become more accustomed to and less afraid of humans, though others point to the continued rarity of lion attacks.

As easy as our access to rugged chaparral and scrub has become, as friendly as the pretty scenery looks, this isn’t a Disneyland simulacrum of a wild place. Disney’s Pocahontas picks up a cute bear cub to show John Smith. But wildlife isn’t cuddly, and danger comes when we are least prepared.

Urban warriors heading to nature can make their trip safer and more pleasant by planning. Read up about the place, bring the right equipment, and don’t go alone. Rangers in Angeles National Forest tell stories of people who hike along ledges in rubber flip-flops or drunk. On hot days, rangers in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park cart bottles of water uphill for hikers who haven’t brought their own and are on the verge of collapse.

Dangers that people can’t prepare for remain, including the out-of-nowhere attacks on accomplished bicyclists at Whiting Ranch. It’s a place protected by humans but controlled by nature. That makes it beautiful and unpredictable.

Park rangers absolutely had to shoot the lion responsible for the attacks, but it is cause for sorrow. Experts should be looking at ways to keep lions wary of humans -- perhaps by limiting park days and hours to keep human presence unfamiliar, or by occasionally walking the trails with trained dogs, which are good lion deterrents. If officials shot all the mountain lions, removed the rattlesnakes and paved the trails, people would lose the very thing they came for in the first place.