Wildlife interactions have been in the headlines in western mountain towns such as Jackson’s recent season of grizzly bear encounters.
Another western resort community is having a similar problem this spring, but this time of the feline variety. Idaho Game and Fish have decided the must begin removing the problem animals.
Residents of Hailey Idaho and the Wood River Valley are increasingly reporting mountain lions in their yards or are seeing them on their security cameras.
Since last October, 85 reports of mountain lions have been made in the Valley.
Idaho Fish and Game says there have been a number of non-fatal attacks on several dogs and, they say, residents are concerned about lions taking up residence in their neighborhoods.
Over the past several months, conservation officers have responded to sightings by using non-lethal hazing like rubber slugs and buckshot, aerial cracker shells and pepper balls shot from an air rifle.
They have also been removing numerous lion-killed deer and elk carcasses from neighborhood yards.
Earlier this month, Idaho Fish and Game received a report of a female lion with young frequenting a home in east Hailey.
Just last week, a Hailey woman was leaving her home when she found herself face-to-face with a lion on a deer that had been killed in her front yard.
In the encounter, the lion did not retreat, but instead acted aggressively towards the woman who then retreated back into her house.
Fish and Game finally made the decision to trap and remove the lions.
So, within the last week, three large live traps were placed adjacent to two houses where the lions were frequenting and biologists captured one of the young lions.
After failing to find a suitable facility or zoo to place the cat, the decision was made to euthanize the lion.
Fish and Game Regional Supervisor Craig White said that when lions or any other wildlife becomes a public safety issue, the most humane and responsible option is to euthanize it. White said it isn’t a decision that they takes lightly.
He said that as wildlife biologists, they dedicate their careers to managing healthy and robust wildlife populations, and the last thing they want to do is euthanize an animal.
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