Supervisors Approve 2-Year Study of Cougars in County

A two-year, $154,000 study aimed at pinpointing the size and range of the cougar population in Orange County was approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

Scientists from UC Berkeley and experts from the state Fish and Game Department will conduct the study to try to learn where the lions live and where they roam.

Last year, a 5-year-old El Toro girl and a 6-year-old Huntington Beach boy were mauled by mountain lions in the Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park near San Juan Capistrano. The separate incidents resulted in the closing of large areas of the park.

Cougar sightings in O’Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon resulted in similar restrictions, even though there were no attacks there.

Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, whose district includes O’Neill Park, said Tuesday that he wants the county Environmental Management Agency to report to the supervisors within six months on whether public access, possibly including camping, can be increased in the park.

“I have received many letters requesting that the restrictions be lifted from O’Neill Regional Park,” Vasquez said. He acknowledged that the supervisors had to weigh the county’s duty to public protection and to provide recreational facilities.

A 10-day study of mountain lions in Orange County by state game officials last November found the animals living closer to county parks than experts had thought. For that study, two cougars were captured and fitted with collars that had radio transmitters.

EMA officials said the new two-year study would involve the same process, only with eight animals.

“It is imperative that the county learn more about the lion population in this county and to identify practical solutions . . . an EMA request for approval of the study said.

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

The primary study area will cover 70,000 acres of publicly and privately owned land in southern Orange County.