A mountain lion was shot and killed in Downieville, California, final week by two residents who got here to their neighbor’s assist. The cougar had a pet canine in its mouth when it was killed, California Division of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Peter Tira advised SF Gate of the incident, which happened on Jan. 13 within the small northern California city. The canine didn’t survive the assault.
CDFW was nonetheless investigating the incident as of Jan. 17, and the company didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Monday. In response to a primary abstract of occasions reported within the Mountain Messenger, the Downieville resident was letting her two canines out round 3 a.m. on Jan. 13 when she noticed a pair of eyes on the hillside and tried to name the canines again. One of many canines didn’t return, so the house owner referred to as her husband, who was out of city. The husband then notified a neighbor, who introduced over a shotgun loaded with buckshot.
The neighbor reportedly fired a warning shot first. When the cougar took off working with the canine nonetheless in its mouth, the neighbor fired once more, dropping the lion however not killing it.
“On the similar time,” the Mountain Messenger studies, “a household buddy, who was additionally referred to as simply after the neighbor, arrived on the scene with a searching rifle. Seeing the mountain lion injured however not but lifeless, he put it down with a shot to the top.”
The canine proprietor says she noticed two cougars. And on the morning after the assault, the husband returned to the place the lion had been killed and located one other mountain lion feeding on the lifeless cat’s carcass. CDFW later confirmed with the native information outlet that there have been truly three lions within the space — probably a mom and two juveniles — and that one of many juveniles had been shot, whereas the opposite had returned to feed on its sibling.
Though CDFW is overseeing the investigation, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Workplace warned residents final week to maintain their pets indoors in the intervening time. The native Public Works Division had additionally quickly closed a public park and playground situated close to the location of the assault.
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“I most likely wouldn’t jog in that space proper now, not less than early morning and late night,” Sierra County Sheriff Mike Fisher added in an announcement shared with the Messenger.
Downieville residents are used to sharing the panorama with predators and different wildlife. It’s the identical city the place a girl was killed by a black bear in 2023, and it lies simply 100 miles north of the place two shed hunters had been attacked (certainly one of whom was killed) by a cougar in 2024. California is dwelling to an estimated 3,200 to 4,500 mountain lions. The species receives particular protections within the state, which hasn’t held a regulated mountain lion hunt since 1972.
