Biologist Seeks Information on Fate of Mountain Lion

Paul Beier feared for the worst last month when the 20-month-old male mountain lion he had been tracking suddenly roamed from Camp Pendleton to terrain north of Mission Viejo.

“I knew he was in trouble then,” said Beier, a University of California wildlife biologist who uses collar-type radio transmitters to gather information about the shy, yet occasionally dangerous cats.

The need to know more about about mountain lions was heightened in 1986 after two maulings of children at Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park, northeast of San Juan Capistrano. Both children survived although one sustained permanent, disfiguring injuries.

Far more common is man’s impact on the mountain lion. The potential peril to the cats is posed by the encroachment of suburbia--mainly by cars and trucks--according to Beier, who leads the Orange County Mountain Lion Study.

And sure enough, by late October, just one week after roaming to acreage between Oso Reservoir and Trabuco Canyon, the 20-month-old mountain lion fell from Beier’s sight.

“I think there’s a good probability he got run over,” said Beier, whose work is paid for by Orange County government and the state Department of Fish and Game.

Regardless of his migration from Camp Pendleton, the animal’s chances of living beyond his second birthday were not good. Of the 20 to 25 adult mountain lions known to make Orange County their home, only three or four are males, according to Beier. Seven of those adults are equipped with the transmitters.

Since the mountain lion project was launched in April, 1988, 21 have been outfitted with transmitters and eight of those animals have died, according to Beier. The most recent confirmed death occurred the night of Oct. 10, when an 8-year-old female lion was struck on Ortega Highway, near Caspers Park. Such deaths usually are quickly pinpointed, Beier said, because the transmitters beep at a quickened pace if there has been no movement on the collars for six hours or more.

What makes the recent disappearance of the 20-month-old male so puzzling and, for science a lost opportunity, is that Beier and his partner have been unable to locate the cat’s remains or even his radio collar.

Beier, 39, said his only interest is learning how and where the mountain lion died. Anyone with information should call him at Caspers Park, (714) 728-0235.