Local Park Posts Signs Warning of Cougar

A probable mountain lion sighting at Oak Canyon Community Park led officials to post signs Friday afternoon warning visitors to be alert to possible danger.

An Agoura Hills woman, whose name was not released, was with her two sons about 5 p.m. Thursday at the park. She reported seeing what looked like a cougar about 40 yards from the children’s play area, said Mike Enge, who supervises more than 1,400 acres of parkland and open space for the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District.

The woman also alerted other park visitors en route to the children’s area about seeing the animal, Enge said.

By the time a park ranger and Ventura County sheriff’s deputies arrived, there were no signs of the mountain lion, said Rick Johnson, the district’s community affairs administrator.

“That park is like a wildlife corridor, and there’s water from Medea Creek,” which cuts through the western portion of the park off Kanan Road, he said. “The mountain lion was probably getting a drink of water.”

The area is also a habitat for deer, a principal food source for cougars. An inspection Friday morning of the vicinity where the animal was last seen was conducted by Enge and the head ranger of the Conejo Recreation and Park District. No tracks or other evidence of mountain lion activity were found, Enge said.

Although she never saw the animal’s head because it was facing the opposite direction, the woman sufficiently described the animal to prompt public warnings, officials said.

“She was very articulate and honest,” said Glen Kinney, supervising ranger of the Conejo park district. “One important thing that came out of the conversation was that she realized the animal had absolutely no interest in her or her children.”

The 25-acre park was closed for the remainder of Thursday evening, but it reopened at 6 a.m. as usual Friday, Enge said.

As a precaution, 15 warning signs were posted along the perimeter of and all routes into and out of the park Friday afternoon.

The last confirmed mountain lion sighting in the Oak Park area was in July 2002, he said.

Along with existing signs that state this portion of California “is mountain lion country,” the new signs recommend that hikers travel in groups when possible and keep children nearby and pets on a leash.

The signs advise park-goers not to approach a lion, make any sudden moves or crouch down. They further advise trying to appear larger by raising arms or opening a jacket and lifting children off the ground. Visitors are advised to call the park district or 911 as soon as possible after seeing a lion.

If there are no additional sightings, the new signs will remain in place for at least 30 days, officials said. If a mountain lion is again spotted, officials may decide to temporarily close the park or try to capture and relocate the animal.

Thursday’s suspected sighting comes several weeks after a mountain lion was spotted in Griffith Park in Los Angeles and four months after a mountain lion killed a bicyclist in an Orange County wilderness park in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains.

The Jan. 8 death of Mark Reynolds, 35, of Foothill Ranch was the first fatal mauling by a mountain lion in California in 10 years. Anne Hjelle, who was riding through the park with a companion later that day, was mauled by the same cougar but survived.

Mountain lions in the state have attacked 14 people, killing six of them, since 1890, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.

“You’re probably at far greater risk of being attacked by the pit bull down the street than you’d be from a mountain lion,” said Ray Sauvajot, chief of planning, science and resource management for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Biologists estimate there are no more than three or four mountain lions in the area north of the Ventura Freeway, and maybe five or six south of it, Sauvajot said. Scientists have electronic collars on three cougars -- two male and one female -- to monitor their behavior and travel patterns.

While results of the satellite tracking suggest mountain lions frequent many camp areas when humans do, they tend to rest during the day out of sight and hunt from sundown to sunrise.

There is no verifiable scientific evidence to suggest mountain lions have become more aggressive toward humans. Sauvajot said even spotting one remained rare.

“I’ve worked here for 10 years,” he said. “I’m a wildlife ecologist and I’ve never seen a mountain lion in the wild.”