Countywide : County Expected to Extend Lion Study

A two-year mountain lion study in South County will probably be extended until February, 1993, so that researchers can learn more about the cougars and prevent them from coming in contact with people, according to a county staff report obtained Wednesday.

The extension is being sought by the county Environmental Management Agency, which proposes spending an additional $192,466 to pay for completion of the project, a pioneering work that collars and tracks cougars in the county to better analyze the animals’ patterns of behavior.

County supervisors will vote on the project extension next week, and the proposal has been placed on the board’s “consent calendar,” indicating that it is not expected to encounter opposition.

“Orange County has taken the lead in funding professional, management-oriented lion research,” according to the report. “An extended study will expand informational data of the study’s original objectives and provide for the achievement of the proposed ‘new’ objectives.”

The project’s additional goals, spelled out in the contract that the supervisors will consider, include documenting lion movement in existing county parks, exploring the effects of land development in the county on lion habitats and investigating reports of cougar sightings in the San Joaquin Hills and Laguna Greenbelt areas.

The lion study was initiated shortly after two Orange County children were mauled by the animals in separate incidents in Ronald W. Caspers Regional Park.

Since then, development in the county has continued to encroach on lion habitats and some researchers worry about encounters between people and the cats as new homes occupy formerly pristine land.

The exact size of Orange County’s lion population is unknown, but new cubs are being born, and the study extension will pay special attention to five new cubs growing up on land near Caspers Park. Researchers also hope to reduce contact between humans and cougars by collaring more of the lions near the park so that they can be more easily tracked.

“The study has provided an effective method of lion sighting verification,” the report says. “If aggressive behavior is exhibited, the collared lion can be located and if determined necessary, captured.”

Related STORY: A3