Lion Eludes Search Party; Park May Be Closed Indefinitely

A top Orange County parks official said Tuesday that the Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park may remain closed indefinitely because of mountain lion attacks on two children within the last seven months in the park.

Also on Tuesday, 6-year-old Justin Mellon, the second child to be mauled by a mountain lion in the park, was released from a Mission Viejo hospital as a cadre of hunters, rangers and wardens and two teams of tracking dogs failed for a third day to locate the big cat that attacked the Huntington Beach first-grader last weekend.

Timothy Miller, manager of park and recreation operations for the county, said two teams of hunters and tracking dogs found a fresh deer carcass but were unable to spot the mountain lion or pick up its scent in the park, which is located about seven miles east of San Juan Capistrano.

Miller said the search teams--which included four professional hunters, two park rangers, two state game wardens, a biologist, two members of the county Animal Control Board and eight English Walker hounds--will continue the search until 2 p.m. today.

Meeting Thursday

A meeting was scheduled for noon Thursday between county supervisors, representatives of the county parks department, the state Department of Fish and Game and the animal control board to discuss how, when or if, Caspers Park will reopen.

But Miller said Tuesday that he was not optimistic that the public will have access anytime soon to the 7,500-acre wilderness area, where a 5-year-old El Toro girl was mauled by one of the big cats last March 23.

“The park will not reopen for sometime . . . a month, two months or maybe never,” he said.

Tuesday’s search began at 6:30 a.m. But trackers never found a trace of the lion, which was being sought in the eastern area of Bell Canyon. Miller said the hounds had treed a bobcat early in the day, but the animal was released.

At dawn, the canyon was swept clean of tracks before the two teams began their search. A freshly killed deer carcass was found on a canyon trail, but Miller said the dogs were unable to pick up the scent of any lion--also known as a cougar or puma.

Search Resumes Today

The search continued into the night and was scheduled to resume at 6:30 a.m. today.

Meanwhile, Justin Mellon, his head swathed in bandages, was wheeled from Mission Community Hospital, where he was airlifted after he was mauled at the park at 11:55 a.m. Sunday.

His parents, Timothy Mellon, 28, and Ann Forgy, 30, carried balloons and a three-foot-tall teddy bear given to their son.

His father criticized Miller and other park personnel for failure to safeguard park patrons and said the family was “considering legal action.”

“Everything that has come out of his mouth is pure baloney,” Mellon said of Miller. “. . . Especially the part about their warning people about the dangers of mountain lions as people were coming into the park.”

“It’ll never be safe,” Mellon said of the park, which abuts the Cleveland National Forest.

Mellon also was angered by what he perceived as park officials’ intimations that Justin’s parents “were not taking care of him” shortly before the attack. Mellon said the family had been in the park about 10 minutes and was walking to a swing less than 150 yards from their parked car when the animal seized the boy by the head.

He said the mountain lion attacked his son from behind, knocking the boy down. Knife in hand, the father drove the lion away after the boy struggled with the animal for several minutes.

Although Justin received no facial injuries, the beast mauled him severely in the chest and back. Justin required more than 100 stitches to close his wounds, family members have said.

Incident Not Mentioned

Mellon also said his son, who talked with a child psychologist before his release from the hospital, had not discussed the attack, and the family had refrained from asking him anything about the incident.

He added that Justin now is afraid of all animals, including the family’s pet springer spaniel.

Tony Gimbrone, district supervisor for county parks, denied that any of his personnel had been critical of the boy’s parents.

“That would not be appropriate. I don’t know what he (Mellon) is talking about. We are thrilled today for his son’s release, and we hope for a speedy recovery,” he said.

But responding to Mellon’s previous charge that there was inadequate warning of the danger, Gimbrone said there are signs posted warning the 62,000 people who visit the park annually that they should beware of poison ivy, rattlesnakes and mountain lions that inhabit the brush and forested areas.

Supervisors’ Concern

“We’ve been getting a lot of calls from people who use the park and they are supportive of our position,” Gimbrone said. “It is our duty here to inform the public of the inherent dangers when using this kind of facility.”

Supervisors Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes the park, and Bruce Nestande expressed their concern Tuesday that mountain lions may receive better protection than people.

Riley said many of the callers who have telephoned him since Sunday’s cougar attack have registered anger at officials who protect animals in a park meant for people. There has been a 15-year ban on the killing of the big cats in California except by special permit in areas where they have preyed on livestock or domestic animals.

Nestande agreed that the parkland was intended for human visitors. “We ought to maximize their safety. It’s not a wildlife preserve.”

Three weeks ago, the supervisors agreed to help finance a two-year census of mountain lions in the area and a study of their habits. The study would be conducted by the National Audubon Society.

Riley expressed concern that since last March 23, when 5-year-old Laura Michele Small of El Toro was attacked by a mountain lion, the county Environmental Management Agency staff has recorded many other sightings of the animals.

Photograph of Lion

One such sighting was captured on film the day before Justin Mellon was attacked in nearly the same location as the attack. Doug Schulthess of Cypress was alerted to a cougar watching from the bushes a few yards behind his wife, Loye, and 2-year-old daughter, Natalie, who were posing for a picture.

Hal J. Krizan, EMA’s director of parks and recreation, said Thursday’s meeting would focus on “operational alternatives” to prevent future attacks if the park is reopened to the public.

“We want to review whether or not the operations of the park should be modified. If they should be modified, we want that to be considered by the (supervisors) before the reopening of the park,” Krizan said.

Terry Mansfield, a wildlife management authority with the state Department of Fish and Game, said a $28-million lawsuit filed by Donald and Susan Small on behalf of their daughter against the county, the state, the National Audubon Society and others might have a bearing on what officials finally decide to do about Caspers Park now that another child has been mauled.

In the lawsuit, the Smalls claim park officials were concerned about increased sightings of the mountain lions, so much so that the evening before the attack on Laura Small, they warned individual park-goers and offered instructions on what to do if confronted by a lion.

“Because of the pending litigation, I really cannot comment,” Mansfield said from his office in Sacramento. “But I certainly think we should sit down and discuss the whole situation. I assume that people will evaluate all the options that can be taken.”

Times staff writers David Reyes and John Needham contributed to this story.