A farmer living in Lower Lake, in Lake County, noticed the dead lambs last week and notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The lion had killed the livestock but had not eaten them, The Mercury News reported.
An official from the department visited the farm shortly after the incident and found tracks belonging to the animal, according to local news reports. Newsweek has contacted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for comment.
Mountain lions are a protected species in California. It is illegal to injure or kill them. The species are abundant in the state, numbering around 4,000 to 6,000 estimated creatures. They can be found throughout the state apart from the southeastern desert and the Central Valley.
Mountain lions, also known as pumas or cougars, interact with hundreds of species and play a direct role in balancing various habitats across the state and other parts of the U.S. They are considered important in maintaining ecosystems and controlling other animal populations such as deer, its preferred prey.
However, they also prove a nuisance to local livestock. It is likely this mountain lion killed the lambs as they are readily available. Under normal circumstances, the lion would have returned to eat the prey.
Mountain lions have been terrorizing livestock in Lake County over the past weeks, and this was not the first instance to be reported to authorities.
The farmer who owned the lambs also contacted a trapper in hopes that they could do something about the mountain lion. But again, as the species is protected, they were unable to carry out efforts to catch it.
Although the species is protected, landowners can request a special permit to catch or kill a mountain lion if it has killed livestock and caused damage.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has granted a number of these in the last week, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Department spokesperson Peter Tira told LA Times: “It’s been a day-to-day, hourly kind of situation. This is perfect mountain lion habitat. These lions belong there. At the same time, we’re trying to be as supportive and helpful to property owners as possible.”
Conflicts between mountain lions and humans have become more common in recent years due to habitat degradation and increasing populations.
Mountain lions will usually stay within their own habitats and hunt for their own food sources. But the animals are wandering into populated areas more regularly in search of food. This is largely down to a lack of resources in their own habitats.
Do you have an animal or nature story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about mountain lions? Let us know via nature@newsweek.com.
