California county creates mountain lion protocols after increased number of sightings

Matthew Nobert
·2 min read
9

(FOX40.COM) — El Dorado County continues to experience a heightened level of mountain lion sightings that has caused local law enforcement to establish an official mountain lion sighting and reporting protocol.

In March, El Dorado County and the community of Georgetown became the center of mountain lion news in California after a mountain lion killed a man and severely injured his brother.
•Video Above: Account of mountain lion attack against California brothers (From March 2024)

This was the first fatal human-mountain lion encounter in 20 years.

In the following months, El Dorado County residents continued to report mountain lion sightings to which the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has created an official sighting and reporting protocol.

What is California’s mountain lion population?

In a social media post, the sheriff’s office wrote that they met with The Outdoor View and the County Agricultural Department to create these protocols.

The groups decided that “simple sightings” can be posted to the El Dorado County Mountain Lion Sightings Facebook page.

Since early May, a number of videos and photos of mountain lion sightings, aftermath of lion attacks and written descriptions of mountain lions sightings have been posted to the page.

If injured/dead livestock or pets are discovered and the mountain lion has left the area residents should call the El Dorado County Agricultural Department at 530-621-520.

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In the case of an attack immediate risk attack on you, your family, pets or livestock call 911 directly.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, mountain lions inhabit most areas of California excluding the Sacramento and Central valleys, the high sierra and deserts of Southern California and areas of higher human population density.

There is an estimated 185,000 square kilometers of habitat for mountain lions in California, with almost two lions occupying a 100 square kilometer habitat, according to the Mountain Lion Foundation.

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