Mountain Lion Attacks in California
by Michael
Like all mountain lion attacks across the United States and Canada, mountain lion attacks in California are rare, very rare but there is no doubt that there is a distorted perception born out of plain fear that attacks are more likely than they are and the fear is somewhat unjustified. People apparently think that a return to hunting the cougar would do the trick and eliminate mountain lion attacks. However despite the ban on hunting as many cougars are shot today as were in the days of allowed hunting (src: http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks.html#stats). And the level of fatal attacks are a tiny fraction of those that occur in traffic accidents and by attacks from dogs. We should concentrate on these before killing an animal that is precious to the world. We should also take some of the blame for mountain lion attacks. Human population growth and habitat destruction forces the cougar closer to human and decreased prey (due to human activity) will also encourage attacks. In addition not encouraging attacks by for example taking a dog on wilderness walks is our responsibility. Also what comes over clearly on reading the accounts and data on attacks is that rocks thrown at the head of the cougar deters it and on a number of occasions has caused the cougar to release the attacked person. The table below shows how rare attacks are. Often a cougar suspected of being the attacker is shot. I understand this of course but it just seems wrong. “No attacks” means no reported attacks.
Moral/lessons:
From Mountain Lion Attacks in California to Mountain lion attack for lots more. I am indebted to this fine site: http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_ca.html for the stats.
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