Letters : Mountain Lion Attacks at Caspers Wilderness Park
The recent unfortunate cougar attacks in Caspers Wilderness Park should come as no surprise to anyone who is aware of the frantic pace of development in southern Orange County’s backcountry.
Thousands of acres of wilderness are being bulldozed and the animal occupants forced to seek refuge elsewhere. How amazing that in all the news articles about the lions, no mention is made of this large-scale destruction of their habitat!
The moratorium on lion-hunting since 1971 is featured prominently as the cause of a perceived lion surplus, but a more likely cause is habitat shrinkage leading to migrations and dislocations within the local wildlife populations.
As to the future of Caspers Park, why not adopt people-management rules as Glacier National Park has done to cope with the aggressive grizzly bear? Hikers travel in groups and make warning noises on trails known to be frequented by bears. An appreciation of the untamed quality of wilderness restores balance in the human spirit otherwise immersed in urban life.
When bulldozers enter the wilderness, what comes out is a wave of displaced animals and birds. Cougars are very visible indicators of the fact that you can’t save animals without saving their habitat.
ELISABETH G. BROWN
Laguna Beach
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