lion shot in downtown Boulder CO
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 5:04 pm
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/31 ... etail.html
click for photos, details, etc.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers shot and killed this mountain lion on Monday night after it wandered into a downtown Boulder neighborhood. Rangers said it had killed a house cat and showed no fear of humans. More
Rangers Shoot 1 Cougar In Boulder, Chase Off Another
Wildlife Official Says Rangers Had To Shoot Mountain Lion That Killed House Cat, Showed No Fear Of Humans
Alan Gathright, New Media Producer
POSTED: 9:14 pm MDT August 28, 2012
UPDATED: 12:38 am MDT August 29, 2012
BOULDER, Colo. -- Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers were forced to shoot one mountain lion and scare off another after the two animals wandered into downtown Boulder neighborhoods on Monday night, according to officials.
The first mountain lion was spotted around 8 p.m. Monday near Folsom and Walnut streets in a backyard hot tub area, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill told the Daily Camera.
Rangers at first tried to trap the cat. But as it grew darker, rangers instead decided to scare the cougar away from buildings, the newspaper reported.
Churchill said rangers still hope to later catch that mountain lion and place a tracking device on the big cat.
The second mountain lion was spotted later that night, near Mapleton Avenue and 26th Street, about five blocks from where the first cougar was sighted.
The second mountain lion killed a house cat and did not show fear of people, allowing rangers to get within 10 feet of it, Churchill told the Camera.
Churchill said that due to the populated location and the cougar's lack of fear of humans, rangers decided to put it down, the newspaper reported.
Geneva Z. Bailey, a photographer who lives on Mapleton Avenue, took photographs of the cougar that was shot by a ranger near her home.
Bailey told 7NEWS that the ranger said his agency had been getting calls for about a day from residents reporting two mountain lions prowling the neighborhood.
The ranger thought the big cats were 2-year-old siblings who had been forced by their mother to fend for themselves.
While she said it was heartbreaking to see the "very beautiful animal" killed, Bailey said the mountain lions did pose a threat.
"Our neighbors were out there and (the cougars) we're fearless around people," she said. "And two of them together, I think, would be a dangerous combination."
"You could see that the ranger weighed the decision very carefully," she said.
Bailey suspects the mountain lions followed the nearby Goose Creek Channel, which is home to deer and raccoons, into the neighborhood.
She said she wanted "to let people know that (the mountain lions) are out there and to keep your cats and your dogs and your little ones inside for a couple of days, until they leave or are removed."
click for photos, details, etc.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers shot and killed this mountain lion on Monday night after it wandered into a downtown Boulder neighborhood. Rangers said it had killed a house cat and showed no fear of humans. More
Rangers Shoot 1 Cougar In Boulder, Chase Off Another
Wildlife Official Says Rangers Had To Shoot Mountain Lion That Killed House Cat, Showed No Fear Of Humans
Alan Gathright, New Media Producer
POSTED: 9:14 pm MDT August 28, 2012
UPDATED: 12:38 am MDT August 29, 2012
BOULDER, Colo. -- Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers were forced to shoot one mountain lion and scare off another after the two animals wandered into downtown Boulder neighborhoods on Monday night, according to officials.
The first mountain lion was spotted around 8 p.m. Monday near Folsom and Walnut streets in a backyard hot tub area, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill told the Daily Camera.
Rangers at first tried to trap the cat. But as it grew darker, rangers instead decided to scare the cougar away from buildings, the newspaper reported.
Churchill said rangers still hope to later catch that mountain lion and place a tracking device on the big cat.
The second mountain lion was spotted later that night, near Mapleton Avenue and 26th Street, about five blocks from where the first cougar was sighted.
The second mountain lion killed a house cat and did not show fear of people, allowing rangers to get within 10 feet of it, Churchill told the Camera.
Churchill said that due to the populated location and the cougar's lack of fear of humans, rangers decided to put it down, the newspaper reported.
Geneva Z. Bailey, a photographer who lives on Mapleton Avenue, took photographs of the cougar that was shot by a ranger near her home.
Bailey told 7NEWS that the ranger said his agency had been getting calls for about a day from residents reporting two mountain lions prowling the neighborhood.
The ranger thought the big cats were 2-year-old siblings who had been forced by their mother to fend for themselves.
While she said it was heartbreaking to see the "very beautiful animal" killed, Bailey said the mountain lions did pose a threat.
"Our neighbors were out there and (the cougars) we're fearless around people," she said. "And two of them together, I think, would be a dangerous combination."
"You could see that the ranger weighed the decision very carefully," she said.
Bailey suspects the mountain lions followed the nearby Goose Creek Channel, which is home to deer and raccoons, into the neighborhood.
She said she wanted "to let people know that (the mountain lions) are out there and to keep your cats and your dogs and your little ones inside for a couple of days, until they leave or are removed."