Also: is it unusual to spot deer down at the Marina near Cesar Chavez park? I nearly walked smack into a young one. Startled us both. I didn’t hang around looking for mama deer.

I’m wondering if the deer are being driven down in larger numbers, with at least this one cat in tow.

It’s unlikely the animal was hunting for food. Plenty of it up in the hills. there’s even the Little Farm in Tilden and they don’t get any mountain lion attacks there.

There are documented accounts of excessive deer habituating in North Berkeley, even nesting and raising young in gardens and backyards of homes. DFG has advised repeatedly for neighbors to fence their fruit and vegetables and discourage deer from nesting in yards, in order to prevent interactions between deer and humans, and inevitably, to prevent the encroachment of lions in search of deer. Too many residents think “Bambi” is cute, and foster nesting. We are hurting these wild animals by providing refuge. They should stay wild in Tilden and other reserves. This is the result.

Big John, you asked me:

Was this animal a threat? Seems to me it was wandering streets, not attacking anything or anyone. Just trying to find it’s way home until it started being chased by police.

Well, it’s about 2:30 or 3 in the morning and it’s meandering about an area – including yards – where there are domesticated outdoor cats, where pet dogs can be let out in the middle of the night to take care of some business, where people’s brothers-in-law might be visiting from Germany, having a quiet smoke in the garden, where there are probably homeless people about, where there is no clear, quick shot for it to get back into the wild, where – should the cat successfully go hide somewhere – the morning will bring young children nearby, etc.

You say “Just trying to find it’s way home until it started being chased by police.” I don’t think you can attribute such a motive to the beast. My understanding is that lions roam large territories. So far as we know, it was “home” as far as it was concerned.

And what sort of training or expertise do ‘law enforcement’ officers have to determine whether or not an animal is a threat, especially when they have not witnessed any threatening behavior?

I’ve no idea about the training per se, but here are the guidelines that explain how the Department of Fish and Game treats the matter:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/publicsafety.html

The language is deliberately vague. If the officers perceive the lion to be an imminent threat, they may (and should) isolate and kill the animal on their own authority.

In this case, the lion was allegedly wandering in areas that would give it ample opportunity to hide and emerge just a few hours later when, for example, young children were at or on the way to school. Meanwhile, it had plenty of opportunity to evade officers and take pets or people that night. By every standard, that comprises an imminent threat.

Let’s consider the other course of action that was open to the officers:

They could have decided that the cat was not an imminent threat and therefore contacted (in the middle of the night) the Department of Fish and Game to come attempt to capture the animal. How do you suppose DFG would have responded? My guess is that they would ask about the circumstances and then ask “Why the hell haven’t you killed it? Don’t you know that you’re authorized to do so when there’s an imminent threat? There is no way we’re going on a lion-trapping expedition in the middle of a damn city.”

As for this particular cat, I think the police’s judgment is vindicated (though their marksmanship called into question :-) if the account is indeed true that after they failed to bring it down with two shot-gun blasts, the beast decided to get closer and investigate those strange, loud, monkey-like creatures.

(I also wonder if they just clean missed with the shotgun or if the pellets weren’t enough at whatever range that was to do more than annoy it.)

Did this cat attack anyone or anything? I don’t think has been any report of such. After traveling through Berkeley hills all the way down to where it was killed, not one reported instance of an attack on a dog/cat/student/chicken/visiting German brother-in-law??? Surely this cat had ample opportunity to do demonstrate it’s blood lust, or was it simply trying to find its way back to the woods?

There is more potential of another human attacking your laundry list of possible victims, than there is of a mountain lion.

As for the safety of kids going to school in the morning… better keep them FAR away from our streets, since there are more life threatening situations from speeding drivers in Berkeley than there are from wild animal attacks in the entire country, if not the world!

The number of replies to this post is proof of why news media loves animal stories :-)

You might start with a couple of pictures of a cute cat trio (“The Whiskers”?) playing at the Cheeseboard at lunchtime. Pizza + Locovores + Cats = Winner!

The World Wildlife Fund, the U. S. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, and several other sites agree. The California Mountain Lion (or cougar) is neither threatened nor endangered. It’s cousin in Florida is. But due to the Initiative passed by the voters of California several years ago to prevent any hunting of our mountain lions they are flourishing. As the one exploring a toddler park at All Souls Church so beautifully demonstrated. Since they are the top of the food chain they have no natural enemies. All of this explains the increasing frequency of human and lion contact in both parks and rural areas. And why Fish and Game told the Berkeley Police Department to kill this animal. Since I heard the shots, and know what the ambient light was at that time, I congratulate our BPD officers for stopping it with only four shots from their rifles. This was not an easy situation since obviously they did not want a rifle bullet to penetrate a house and hurt a sleeping human.

As a resident of the GG, I will note that there are an unusually large number os signs up in the neighborhood about missing pets. Perhaps there is a connection here.

Puma use corridors through cities more often than is realized. Even busy downtown cities. But judging by the reactions reminiscent of screeching, hysterical primates (with guns), I won’t point out where exactly this occurs.

Not long ago the Oakland police gunned down an immature deer that was chased into a backyard. Fangs, hooves, it doesn’t seem to matter for some. Too many folks these days can’t seem to interpret basic, natural behavior or to properly assess a threat. More and more are becoming distanced from the natural world.

A pursued cougar will not be hunting for food. If there was any possibility for aggression in this scenario it would have been because she was being threatened with escape routes cut off. Defensive, not offensive. In all likely hood she would have found her way back to the hills, or if she was too bewildered, found a tree to wait out her pursuers. At which point a tranq gun could have been easily employed had officers immediately contacted Fish & Game. And, of course, if Fish & Game agents had compassion for individuals instead of simply playing numbers games. Last I checked, humans are not threatened or endangered either. In an ethical society this should not be the point.

Right on ulugoni!

“In all likely hood she would have found her way back to the hills…”

Which I’m sure has happened MANY times before with critters who lose their way out of their natural habitat.

I still have heard no reports of any people or animals killed or maimed along this ‘bloodthirsty killers’ path form Tilden to the GG. which is not exactly a hop skip and a jump. There had to have been some kittys, or incontinent dogs, insomniacs, or even chickens, geese, rabbits, rats, … something along the way that this ‘menace’ would have torn to shreds during it’s urban exploits.

Or could it be that ‘Puma’ was simply lost and wanted nothing more than to get to the sanity and security of the forest?

As for the BPD encouraging the big cat to get back to her turf… how exactly did they do that? And how exactly was she supposed to know that’s what they were trying to do. “Go up to Rose to Spruce and make a left, then a right on Marin???” Now let’s talk about naivety.

Does anyone working at DFG or law enforcement understand ecology? Cops today are the most trigger happy individuals on the planet, they must of been ecstatic when given the opportunity to have a late-night urban hunting party. They probably went to the Jack in the box drive-thru after wards. I vote for giving mountain lions handguns to even the playing field. Maybe they deem us a threat to public safety.

We pointed to the Felidae open letter in our latest post: http://www.berkeleyside.com/2010/09/03/in-memorium-the-mountain-lion

Paula: if you read the quote from Patrick Foy, he said he’d never heard of a mountain lion in an area as built up in the East Bay, not as the East Bay. He’s encountered many in the East Bay, clearly. What was so remarkable about Tuesday’s incident is that the mountain lion had strayed to virtually Berkeley’s downtown area. That was what was so rare.

It wouldn’t be so remarkable to find a mountain lion near the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Big John,

Your apparent ability to read the minds of wild animals is pretty impressive. Do you really think you can say, with 100% certainty, that this lion would not have attacked a person or a child? How low would the odds of an attack be for you to be comfortable with just letting the cat go? 10%? 5%? 1? The truth is, given the information–a wild animal that appeared stuck in a highly unusual and heavily populated area–the probability of an attack was higher than any answer you would give.

The police chased the cat for over an hour, trying to chase it back up into the hills. That, to me, sounds like about the best they could do. The department of Fish and Game, which monitors these things, says it was handled right. The Felidae Fund, an organization that specifically works on conservation of wild cats in California, said this (in a statement linked to by others above): “The police on the scene Tuesday morning responded as well as one could expect. This is such an abnormal event, that any response must be to ensure the safety of the community.”

If you’re so certain the police and the experts are wrong, maybe you should go up to Tilden and walk around alone at night. By your logic, there’s no chance you’ll get attacked, so it must be a fine thing to do. Maybe bring your children. Tell me how that goes

23 people in North America were killed by cougars between 1890 and 2010, including six in California. That’s 120 years. 6 deaths in California, where, according to Fish and Game, there is currently a “healthy” population.

See here for Lion Mountain attack history since 1890:

http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_ca.html

Yes, mountain lions are dangerous animals. But they also avoid interactions with humans as best they can, which is generally very good. Just try to go into the woods, day or night, and find yourself a mountain lion.

Given the chance, or if no one had noticed this cat ‘prowling’ the streets, and you can be sure that this is not the first cat that came down the hill to see what all the noise and strange smells are, she would have found her way back to her own territory. If she were hunting, we would have seen some evidence of that by now.
And we haven’t.

No, I am not stupid enough to walk around Tilden at night, but if I did, and people do, there is a VERY slim chance of getting attacked by a mountain lion. Greater chance of falling and cracking my skull open, or being shot by a someone thinking I was a dangerous predator.

Well “Big” John, there is certainly plenty of opinion put forward as fact on this thread, and you aren’t shy about joining in.

Mountain lions have avoided interaction with humans: a behavior we should encourage.
Trying to “find” a lion and failing doesn’t mean they haven’t found you. And thought whatever top predators think. Mostly I’d guess “too big.”

I am sure this is not the first time a big cat has come down from the hills – it wouldn’t surprise me if this mountain lion had made repeated trips downtown. They are ambush predators and good at concealment.

No evidence of predation? They are known to prey on pets, and this neighborhood is constantly posted with “Missing Cat” signs.
How do you measure the worth of on life over another?
Is the lion’s life worth more than a few domestic cats? To whom?
To the elderly shut in whose constant companion and friend is her cat?

Why are people so fascinated with one species and not another? This fixation with a big bad predator seems remarkably similar to an 8 year old boy’s fascination with fast cars and fighter jets. (Admittedly, each more deadly.)
Is it because they are big? Are you worth more because you are “Big”?

Am I personally worried?
No.
Do I have concerns when my neighbor’s 2 year old goes into their garden at dusk, in search of strawberries?

Seth: Look, it seems we agree to some extent. One other probable reason for the lion’s presence in the ‘hood’ is that she lost her way. This is a problem for many wild creatures; birds lose their way migrating because the familiar habitat that they know and depend on has changed. Development (some call it “progress”) has destroyed much of the natural habitat that wildlife depends on. That leads us to this point in time, where wildlife interacts more and more with “civilization” (I use quotes because in my mind, the killing that goes on… of animals or of other people…. in this world makes me question if we have gotten to the point where we can call rightly ourselves “civilized” yet). How do we react? Do we kill everything we don’t understand? We’ve done so in the past, but that doesn’t mean we need to continue doing it that way. We can be better than that. We need to be. We need to respect and revere nature (you know, ‘the Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth’), and not look as it something to kill off so that we’re safe and comfortable. My point about cars and dogs is they too have the potential to kill, as do the police, as do we all. Do we pre-emptively shoot all of those threats? The police in this case judged an animal as a killer with no evidence that it had such intentions. “We” are innocent until proven guilty. “Others” are not so fortunate.

Announcement of East Bay Mountain Lion Community Meetings:

Wednesday, September 15, 7:30pm at Live Oak Park in North Berkeley — Recreation Center, Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley

Wednesday, October 6, 7:00pm at the Oakland Zoo — Marian Zimmer Auditorium, Oakland Zoo, 9777 Golf Links Road, Oakland

Felidae Conservation Fund will be holding two public community meetings to discuss the Mountain Lion Incident on August 31 in North Berkeley.

Zara McDonald, Executive Director of Felidae, will talk about mountain lions in the Bay Area and provide perspective on the growing concerns about public safety. She will also discuss the research and educational work currently underway in the Bay Area Puma Project, the first major study of pumas in the Bay Area.

Additional participating organizations for the North Berkeley event include LOCCNA, Oakland Zoo, ‘Close to Home’ Lecture Series, and other supporting organizations.

These meetings will also offer the opportunity for community members to share thoughts and concerns regarding mountain lions and this incident.

If you have questions, please email info@felidaefund.org.