2nd Park Closed After Discovery of Cougar Tracks

O’Neill Regional Park will remain closed at least until Monday after park rangers found mountain lion tracks in a public picnic area Friday and more tracks in a canyon Saturday morning.

Tracks spotted by rangers Saturday in an area closed to the public “might be from some time ago,” said park Ranger Larry Norton. “We can’t tell if the ones we saw this morning are fresh.”

Rangers have been raking trails in the county park, smoothing the soil so they can determine if any additional tracks found are fresh, Norton said.

“After we find out where the lion is going, the Department of Fish and Game will probably make a decision what to do,” Norton said. “This is an open area, and lions can wander in from other areas. They can climb over fences. It is almost impossible to keep them out.”

After the tracks were discovered, about 40 campers were asked to leave the park about 3 p.m. Friday as a precautionary measure, Norton said.

Officials from the state Department of Fish and Game visited the park on Friday and again Saturday morning.

Lion sightings have been reported in the past, but this is the first time the park has been closed, Norton said.

O’Neill Regional Park, located just east of Mission Viejo, is the second park in the county to be closed because of mountain lions. Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park, about six miles south of O’Neill, was closed in October following two attacks on children this year. That park is scheduled to remain closed until Friday.