South County : Agency May Ease Rules Caused by Lion Attacks
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More than a year after mountain lion attacks on two children triggered a crackdown on camping at the Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park near San Juan Capistrano, the county Environmental Management Agency has recommended that some of the restrictions be lifted.
The Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal next week to once again open the campsites to individual adult campers.
After the second mauling in October, 1986, the park was closed for several months. When it opened early last year there were restrictions against anyone traveling in the park alone and children were not allowed beyond a playground at the park entrance.
The same restrictions were in place at O’Neill Regional Park near Trabuco Canyon. But supervisors opened O’Neill to individual adult camping last month. Camping with children remains prohibited.
In March, 1986, Laura Small, 5, of El Toro, was severely mauled by a lion in Caspers. In October, Justin Mellon, 6, of Huntington Beach, was mauled by a lion in the same general area of the park.
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