California wildlife officials seek cougar that mauled homeless man
Toronto Sun - 1 hour ago
Police tape blocks off a crime scene. (CARMINE MARINELLI/QMI AGENCY FILE PHOTO)
LOS ANGELES - Wildlife rangers in Southern California were hunting on
Monday for a mountain lion that mauled a homeless man at his roadside
encampment over the weekend in a rare attack, leaving him in critical
condition, fish and game authorities said.
The mauling of the 50-year-old man, believed to have occurred on
Friday or Saturday in the Riverside County town of Perris, about 70
miles east of Los Angeles, marks only the 15th cougar attack on a
person reported in California since 1986, the state's Department of
Fish and Wildlife said.
Rangers set up baited box traps over the weekend, scoured the area for
cougar tracks and scanned the vicinity with infrared cameras at night
from a helicopter, but have so far found no signs of a mountain lion,
said Lieutenant Patrick Foy of the wildlife agency.
But Foy also said there was little doubt that the man was attacked by
a cougar and authorities were continuing their search for the wild
cat.
The injuries found on the victim - lacerations, puncture wounds and
bite marks at the base of his skull - "are very consistent" with a
cougar mauling, Foy said, adding, "we are comfortable confirming it as
a lion attack.
A blanket that the victim apparently had wrapped himself in after the
attack was soaked in blood, according to Foy.
If the animal is found, it will be killed in the interest of public
safety, he said.
Investigators have collected DNA samples from the victim to match with
the lion if it were captured, and the wildlife department will make
"all reasonable efforts to ensure the actual offending animal is
destroyed," the agency said.
"The first priority of any law enforcement agency is the safety of the
public, and we are doing everything we can do find and capture this
animal before it can harm anyone else," assistant department chief Dan
Sforza said in a statement.
Residents were warned to be careful with pets and children.
The circumstances of the mauling, including what time of day it
occurred, whether the man was asleep when attacked, or whether he
fought off the cougar, remained unknown because investigators have not
been able to speak with him.
Foy said rangers were awaiting doctors' approval to interview the man,
whom he described as being "in pretty bad shape."
The man managed to stagger from his campsite to a nearby home to make
an emergency 911 call early on Saturday, but Foy said he believes the
victim may have refrained from seeking help for several hours before
that.
The homeless man, whose name was not publicly released, is known to
law enforcement as having a "history of being mentally unstable," and
has had "multiple violent confrontations with police" in the past, Foy
said. He may have therefore been reluctant to call for help.
Mountain lion attacks on people are rare. A 63-year-old man survived
an attack in July 2012 in Nevada County. The last fatal attack in
California occurred in 2004, when a cyclist was mauled in the
foothills of Orange County.
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