2 Cougars’ Proximity to Parks Prompts County Request for a Population Study

Orange County officials want to initiate a two-year study of the mountain lion population to follow up a finding by state game officials last November that showed the animals living closer to county parks than experts previously had believed.

A follow-up of the state survey was described as “imperative” by the county Environmental Management Agency because of two separate incidents last year in which mountain lions badly mauled a 5-year-old El Toro girl and a 6-year-old Huntington Beach boy at the Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park near San Juan Capistrano.

State Department of Fish and Game officers captured two mountain lions near Caspers Park last November and fitted them with radio-equipped collars to monitor their movements.

The results showed both animals living closer to Orange County’s southern parks than officials had thought, according to Ken Scattergood of the county EMA.

Those findings do not necessarily mean that the lions are more of a hazard than experts had believed, however, Scattergood, an EMA special districts analyst, hastened to add Thursday.

“I wouldn’t want to make the statement that there are lions, so there is more hazard,” he said. “The lions have always been there.”

But state and county officials are not certain how many lions there are in the remote foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County and Camp Pendleton. And they are not sure why lions are attracted to the county parks.

“If it’s only two lions that seem to be hanging around our parks, then the simple plan may be to just relocate those lions to another area,” Scattergood said. But if that action is taken, he suggested, “other lions may come in and take their place.”

The Board of Supervisors next week will consider an EMA proposal to hire scientists from UC Berkeley to conduct a two-year, $154,000 study of the lions. It would involve placing radio-transmitter collars on about eight more of the animals.

“It is imperative that the county learn more about the lion population in this county and to identify practical solutions . . . that would assist . . . staff in operating the county’s regional facilities in view of (the attacks),” EMA officials wrote in their proposal.

“An increasing trend in the number of mountain lions encountered by humans and rapidly expanding urban development have focused attention on the area,” the report said.

Officials Unavailable

State Fish and Game officials were unavailable Thursday for comment on the county’s proposal to study the population of cougars or pumas, as the mountain lions are sometimes called.

Last September, supervisors voted to have the National Audubon Society conduct a study of the mountain lions after one attack on a youngster. But the society later withdrew its offer to do the study.

In November, state game officials conducted a 10-day study in Orange County. And later, county officials were referred to experts on mountain lions at UC Berkeley.

On March 23 of last year, Laura Michele Small of El Toro was mauled by a mountain lion while hiking in Caspers Park. She was left partly paralyzed and has undergone numerous surgeries in an effort to save vision in one eye.

On Oct. 18, 1986, Justin Mellon of Huntington Beach was mauled by a cougar, again in Caspers Park.

Parents of both Laura Michele Small, now 6, and Justin Mellon, now 7, have filed lawsuits against the county, various state and federal agencies and the National Audubon Society, alleging that they failed to adequately warn the public of the hazard or protect them from mountain lion attacks.

A $20.5-million suit filed by Ann Forgy and Timothy Mellon in connection with the mauling of their son is pending in Superior Court.

A $28-million suit filed by Donald W. Small and Susan Mattern-Small over the attack on their daughter was dismissed July 22 by a Superior Court commissioner for failure to state grounds on which the defendants could be held responsible. The Smalls’ attorney was given an opportunity to redraft the claims.

The county has since restricted the use of Caspers and other regional parks by children, campers and hikers.