Since 1972, the year California outlawed the hunting of mountain lions, the lion population has more than doubled, from an estimated 2,200 to 5,000. Increased competition for food has driven some into long-held human country. Young lions especially tend to roam toward suburbia – dogs are easier prey than deer.
Last year, rangers shot and killed a cougar that had invaded a shopping center in Montclair, east of Los Angeles. In San Diego County, lions have been trapped near a retirement complex and spotted at an elementary school. Another crashed through one house’s window while chasing a rabbit in Ramona. Outside suburbia, confrontations have been more gruesome: last year, lions mauled two women in remote state parks, the first such deaths in California since 1909. Says wildlife writer Kevin Hansen: ““We have this idea that lions are out there, and we’re here.’’ Not anymore.
