The State - News from Sept. 7, 1987

At least one big mountain lion has recently been spotted in a 100-home subdivision near North Fork in eastern Madera County, residents said, and officials say other lions have been seen in the county this summer. Ron Root, a resident of the Cascadel Woods subdivision, said he recently saw a lion padding across a meadow behind his house. “He was pretty big, at least 180 pounds, maybe more,” Root said, adding that he was concerned because his housecat had disappeared the night before. Others in the area have reported seeing a lion as well, he said, and Monty Lewis, animal control officer for Madera County at nearby Bass Lake in the Central Sierra, confirmed there have been numerous sightings this summer. A state trapper may be called in to try and capture the lion frequenting the North Fork vicinity and relocate it to a more remote area, Lewis said. The sightings come at a time when conservation groups and the Mountain Lion Preservation Foundation are trying to halt a planned mountain lion trophy hunting season, approved by the California Department of Fish and Game, scheduled to begin Oct. 10.