Search Begun for Cubs of Cougar Believed to Have Killed Runner

The cubs of a slain mountain lion probably cannot survive more than a week without their mother, according to state experts who searched for their den Monday in the Sierra Nevada.

The cubs’ mother, believed to be responsible for the April 23 mauling death of marathon runner Barbara Schoener, 40, was killed Sunday after a weeklong hunt.

State officials said the mountain lion, which probably gave birth within the past four to six weeks, was a threat to public safety and had to be destroyed. They said as many as six cubs, but probably fewer, could be awaiting her return to the den.

“Their chances of surviving beyond a week would be relatively rare,” Terry Mansfield of the Fish and Game Department said Monday. He said the cubs, if found, would be turned over to zoos.

Investigators believe the 2- to 3-year-old mother cougar struck Schoener from the rear, knocking her from a popular jogging path and repeatedly attacking her. The site of the attack is about 45 miles northeast of Sacramento.

Schoener was the first person killed in a mountain lion attack in California this century. In 1909, a woman and child died of rabies in Santa Clara County after a mountain lion attack.