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No big cats in Arizona fit to roar for the lions
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SUN_HIKER





Joined: 05 Dec 2003
Posts: 1057
PostPosted: 4/3/2004, 7:24 am    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote
Amen Jamie

GB
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bzachar





Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Posts: 88
Location: Mesa, AZ
PostPosted: 4/5/2004, 9:38 pm    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote
"GPS reveals secret lives of mountain lions"


http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/04/04/lions.in.our.midst.ap/index.html
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GTG
Was lost but now am found




Joined: 30 Dec 2002
Posts: 2387
Location: Peoria, Arizona, originally from Rocket City, USA
PostPosted: 4/5/2004, 10:28 pm    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote
bzachar, nice article, very interesting too. I could believe everything in the article about their habits.

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GTG
Was lost but now am found




Joined: 30 Dec 2002
Posts: 2387
Location: Peoria, Arizona, originally from Rocket City, USA
PostPosted: 5/18/2004, 6:42 am    Post subject: Officers kill stalking lion near Tucson Reply to topic Reply with quote
From today's Republic -
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0518mountainlion18.html#

Officers kill stalking lion near Tucson

Quote:

Officers kill stalking lion near Tucson

Cougar 1st chased mountain cyclists

Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
May. 18, 2004 12:00 AM

A mountain lion was shot and killed on Mount Lemmon after chasing two cyclists and, later, stalking two Arizona Game and Fish officers, game officials said Monday.

The shooting happened Sunday when officers checking out the stalking report found themselves the subject of the lion's attention.

"This was a safety issue," said Tom Whetten, information and education program manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department in Tucson. "They shot a lion that was within 10 yards of them."

Officer Hans Koenig shot the 18-month-old female, which was crouched in the brush and, judging from tracks Koenig found, had been following him and fellow Officer Aaron Hartzell.

The shooting comes five weeks after Game and Fish snared a mountain lion from Sabino Canyon and removed it to a rehabilitation center in Scottsdale. The shooting happened about eight miles northeast of Sabino Canyon.

Whetten said there was no time to consider non-lethal means, given how close the lion was to the officers.

The officers responded to a 911 call made Saturday by mountain bikers Jeremy Roggow and Omar Romero. The two men were pedaling down the Green Mountain Trail in the late afternoon when Roggow saw a lion following about 15 feet behind Romero, and outpacing him.

The two men got off their bikes, held them together as a shield and threw rocks at the lion while yelling at it, Game and Fish officials said.

Eventually, the lion backed down.

Whetten said the two took the proper action: not attempting to outrun the lion and making themselves appear as big and threatening as possible.

Attempts to locate Roggow and Romero late Monday were unsuccessful.

Daniel Patterson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the cyclists' actions show that the public is getting the message about how to behave during mountain lion encounters.

But he remained skeptical of the department's insistence that it was necessary to shoot the lion, citing the fallout from this spring's controversy over a mountain lion hunt in Sabino Canyon.

"I can't second-guess an officer who goes out there to investigate," he said. But he faulted what he called the agency's lack of creativity.

"As soon as Game and Fish got that call, it seems they had their minds made up to kill it," Patterson said.

Tests at the University of Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory on Monday determined the lion was a non-lactating female weighing 70 pounds.

Game and Fish officials say they cannot be certain the lion was one of the cougars threatening hikers earlier in the spring in Sabino Canyon. But, Whetten said, in both cases the lions showed little fear of humans and were out in daylight, circumstances which he said are abnormal.

Gov. Janet Napolitano's office did not return calls late Monday seeking comment.

In March, the governor criticized the agency for moving too quickly to issue shoot-to-kill orders for mountain lions in Sabino Canyon.


Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8963.


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